Paper short abstract:

Misplaced or intentionally avoided, some cherished photographic objects can take on a hauntographic presence – retaining an affective charge that echoes the very phantoms they were meant to commemorate.

Paper long abstract:

Like memory, photographs have a connection to the past that is reconsidered with each viewing. Bereavement can render this imaginative component of the photographic experience more conspicuous. Longing for cross-temporal, sustained connections, some individuals – the bereaved in particular – form relationships with photographic portraits of otherwise inaccessible individuals. Lavished with special attention, cherished photographic objects capture more than a fleeting moment – they have the ability to speak across time. Reintegrating the likeness of absent individuals into the present, some photographs become so enmeshed in the activity of imaginative remembrance that their ability to participate is no longer dependant on the viewable object. Misplaced or intentionally avoided, these mementoes can take on a hauntographic presence – retaining an affective charge that echoes the very phantoms they were meant to commemorate.

The bereavement activity occurring on social media represents an exciting move towards the reinstallation of death within society. Photography-based commemorative activities are also experiencing a revival – both in their production and in their public sharing within spaces of social media. Isolated from others, many currently grieve diminished connections to living individuals. Relationships are increasingly experienced through screens and there is an urgent need to deepen our understanding of grieving in conjunction with photographic portraits. This paper examines various forms of embellishment that integrate the likeness of absent individuals into a common temporal frame with the bereaved. Introducing and developing the concept of hauntography, this project follows the imagination’s role in remembrance as it moves through the photographic medium.