ABSTRACT
I’m never sure just how to introduce the work I do when I am asked about it by an unsuspecting acquaintance. Usually when I explain that I am teaching professional caregivers how to photograph infants who have died, the response of my listener is shock. A quick recovery often follows, during which the dismayed listener attempts to respond with polite interest. However, it is evident that many people are taken aback, if not absolutely horrified, by the idea of photographing deceased infants. Our cultural avoidance of death as a painful and unpleasant topic of conversation contributes to this reaction, as does our sense of tragedy and injustice associated with the death of an infant.
