There is nothing more certain in life than death. And while many people don’t like to think about their inevitable end, it’s bound to happen at some point. There are many ways to remember and honor the dead. Nowadays, people can have jewelry made from their loved one’s ashes, and they might have planted a tree for them or perhaps set up a foundation in their name.
One of the oldest ways, though, is by having a headstone made to mark the grave of the deceased person. Also known as gravestones or tombstones, they have been around since as early as 3,000 B.C. But they only became popular in the mid-1600s. They’re usually inscribed with the person’s name, date of birth, and date of death, with a few short words to pay tribute to them. Some go a step further, adding a portrait to the headstone—a lasting memory of the way the person looked while still alive.
There’s an Instagram account that’s dedicated to headstone portraits. Posthumous Portraits has a wall of intriguing, mysterious, haunting, sad, and sometimes macabre content. And it doesn’t only feature people. There are pet portraits, too. Each image tells a unique story of a life that is no longer. Bored Panda has put together our top picks that might inspire you to think a little deeper about how you’d like to be remembered one day. We also managed to secure an interview with the creative brains behind the page. Allyson Pettigrew is a photographer and a self-confessed cemetery a****t.
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