Changes

In Europe, the culture of post-mortem slowly died during the 20th century. The key influence that changed this tradition was death occurred more frequently in hospitals rather than in the home. Death itself became regulated as well, as legislation in the United States and other Western countries increasingly made it less common or likely for people to die in their homesdue to public health laws. This made it more difficult to photograph the dead as death became a part of medical practice rather than family experience for many, helping to erode the tradition of post-mortem photography as well. As many cultures in the 19th century had used post-mortem photography, many parts of the world did not experience the same shifts in practices that made post-mortem photography less common or even acceptedin Western cultures. These cultures continued to practice this even up to today. In some eastern cultures, such Christians in the Middle East, prominent dead figures are still displayed publically and photographed, where they are made to look as if they are sleeping in their vestments. For instance, the death of bishops or well known religious figures is often displayed in this way. This is also done in Russia and cultures from Orthodox Christianity. In some sub-Saharan African countries, this is also practiced more commonly as a way to remember the dead, sometimes the photographs would be used as a public memorial.<ref>For more on the cultural variations of death and post-mortem photography, see: Parkes, C. M., Laungani, P., & Young, B. (Eds.). (2015).<i> Death and bereavement across cultures (Second edition)</i>. London : New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. </ref>