The Museum of Mourning Photography (MoMP) profile picture

The Museum of Mourning Photography (MoMP)

Absent or dead, still let a friend be dear. -Alexander Pope

About Me


Click The Page Below to Visit the Museum of Mourning Photography & Memorial Practice
Mission:
The Museum of Mourning Photography is not intended for morbid fascination, but as an investigation into human ritual. The Museum's focus is on how photography, as a tool and artistic medium, preserves memory as an expressive cultural document· Our mission at the Museum is to collect, showcase, preserve, and disseminate information pertaining to all facets of memorial documentation. The Museum is a resource for both the anthropologist and artist alike. -Anthony R. Vizzari, Museum Director, 2007.
The Collection:
The Collection houses over 1000 mourning photographs and negatives, circa 1850 to 1980. In addition, there is also an archive of pertinent literature and ephemera. With a modest budget, we are actively acquiring new items.
The collection may only be viewed by appointment. To make arrangements to see the collection in Chicago, please email: [email protected]. 2-3 week advance scheduling may be required.
PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO THE MASS AMOUNTS OF COMMENT AND EMAIL SPAM, WE NO LONGER USE MYSPACE EMAIL OR COMMENTS. If you would like to contact us, please email us directly at [email protected]


My Interests

The Digital Archive Project:

The digital archive project is being created to help educate the public on the practice of memorial photography. The archive will be an electronic searchable database capable of aiding collectors, historians and anthropologists with their research on the subject. Included in the archive will be images from public and private collections throughout the world. At this time, no such public database dedicated to memorial photography is known to exist. The archive project is currently in progress and scheduled for public release in May of 2008.

I'd like to meet:

Collectors:

If you would like to participate in this project, by contributing your images to the digital archive, please contact the director. The Museum of Mourning Photography will pay for all expenses related to reproduction work. All copyrights would remain with their respective owners and all images included in our database would be watermarked. Furthermore, any fees paid to the museum archive for usage/publication would be forwarded directly to the copyright owner.

Volunteers:

The Museum is looking for volunteers to help with the Digital Archive process, including archive assistants and consultants, preservationists, and IT managers. Volunteers may receive stipends.

Funding:

The Museum is currently seeking funding for both the Digital Archive Project and the Permanent Collection. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of becoming a donor, please email [email protected].

Books:

Secure the Shadow: Death and Photographty in America, Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions, The Harlem Bok of the Dead by James Van Der Zee, Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America by Stanley Burns, The American Way of Death, On Photography by Susan Sontag, Forget Me Not: Photography and Remembrance, Burning with Desire: The Conception of Photography, Each Wild Idea: Writing Photography & History, Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions by Stanley Burns