Memento mori : the dead among us / Paul Koudounaris.
| Author/creator | Koudounaris, Paul author, photographer. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York, New York : Thames & Hudson, 2015. |
| Copyright Date | ©2015 |
| Description | 215 pages : colour illustrations ; 34 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | The dead will rise: Macabre masterpieces of the nineteenth century -- The gates of paradise: bones and salvation in the Christian tradition -- They walk among us: mysterious burial caves in Asia -- Blessed Souls: elaborate ossuaries in the Catholic world -- They shall not parish: memorials in bone to victims of tragedy -- Remains to be seen: mummies and other exquisite corpses -- Crossing the border: the living and the dead in Bolivia -- Heavenly glory: decorated bones from around the world. |
| Abstract | "Death is universal, but the human response to death varies widely. In Western society, death is usually medicalized and taboo, and kept apart from the world of the living, while in much of the rest of the world, and for much of human history, death has commonly been far more integrated into peoples' daily existence, and human remains are as much a reminder of life, memento vitae, as of death, memento mori. Through photos taken at more than 250 sites in thirty countries over a decade, Paul Koudounaris has captured death around the world. From Bolivia's "festival of the little pug-nosed ones," where skulls are festooned with flowers and given cigarettes to smoke and beanie hats to protect them from the weather to Indonesian families who dress mummies and include them in their household routines; from naturally preserved Buddhist monks and memorials to genocide in Rwanda and Cambodia to the dramatic climax of Europe's great ossuaries, Memento Mori defies taboo to demonstrate how the dead continue to be present in the lives of people everywhere." -- Publisher's description |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (page 27) and index. |
| Genre/form | Pictorial works. |
| Genre/form | History. |
| Genre/form | Illustrated works. |
| LCCN | 2014944638 |
| ISBN | 9780500517789 |
| ISBN | 0500517789 |