Why bereavement photography?

The need for bereavement photography and methods for undertaking it have been ably covered by Rachel Meredith in an article on ‘The photography of neonatal bereavement at Wythenshawe Hospital’ and by Bolette Jones in her Viewpoint article
‘Good grief: a medical illustrator’s view of bereavement photography’.

Is consent for photography needed?

There is an implicit assumption that consent is needed. A clinical photographer would need consent as that is a requirement of his or her position and a requirement of the regulatory frameworks within the NHS.

However if the photography is being ‘commissioned for private and domestic purposes’, i.e. in support of the natural grieving process, the photographs would be subject to Section 85 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act of 1988 which is more restrictive than many clinical photography consent forms therefore a commissioning form might be more appropriate and no consent needed.

In what circumstances might bereavement photographs taken without consent or knowledge of the parents?

I think this is an important point we are not looking at just the authorisation of photography but its being undertaken deliberately without a parent's or both parents' knowledge.
This would need to be covered by clear clinical guidelines.

  Key Issues

•   Who would be authorised to request this?
•   Wording of consent for bereavement photography
  

Where authorised person is agreeing to consent ‘in the best interests of the parent(s)’ they would be signing the consent form which would need to be specially written.
As these photographs are being taken for clinical purposes then it should be the Clinical Photographer or other designated and trained Health Professional able to take high quality photographs. This especially important as in the case of an unnatural grieving process poor, shoddy or insensitively taken photographs could be worse than no photographs.

Who should take the bereavement photographs?

Clinical photography as Beloff H (1984) suggests can lead to people thinking that something is wrong with them whereas portrait photography has the ring of normality so the photography becomes part of the family’s grieving rather than a clinical process. So as Rachel Meredith makes clear the photographs are better taken in a relaxed family context.

Ideal situation would be a qualified clinical photographer (see registration of clinical photographers) but what guidelines would have to be in place or support mechanisms would be necessary for others to take these photographs or even to support and train clinical photographers as not everyone who opts for Clinical Photography is necessarily a good or sensitive portrait photographer.

Professional portrait photographers

Training or advice including copies of the papers quoted might help a professional photographer realise this type of work is different from conventional portrait work.
However if they undertake the work parents are covered by copyright law as it relates to photographs taken for what are termed Private and Domestic purposes (Section 85).

References

Alexander KV. "The one thing you can never take away": perinatal bereavement photographs. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 2001 May-Jun; 26(3): 123-7, 160-1. (11 ref)

Beloff H. (1984) Social interactions in photographing -even in medical illustration . . . J Audiovis Media Med; 7: 44-7.

Bertman SL. Staying present with suffering -- images still and moving. Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services. 2003; 2(2): 65-80. (10 ref)

Dunford KM. Taking photographs -- one aspect of psychological support given to a family of a dying baby: a personal view. [Journal Article] Journal of Neonatal Nursing. 2003 Jan; 9(1): 30-2. (8 bib)

Griesbach SJ. A medical photographer's role on a perinatal bereavement team. Journal of Biological Photography. 56(4):149-53, 1988 Oct.

Guinta R. Bereavement photographs. JOGNN: Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing. 1994 Jul-Aug; 23(6): 455. (1 ref)

Jones B. Good grief: a medical illustrator's view of bereavement photography. Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine. 25(2):69-70, 2002 Jun. (9refs) http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/01405110220140900

Lauterbach SS. In another world: a phenomenological perspective and discovery of meaning in mothers' experience of death of a wished-for baby. (COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE) ** 1992; ED.D. 172 p. Doctoral Dissertation, Research

Lawrence L. "Till death do us part": the application of object relations theory to facilitate mourning in a young widows' group. Social Work in Health Care. 16(3):67-81, 1992.

Mander R. Marshall RK. An historical analysis of the role of paintings and photographs in comforting bereaved parents. Midwifery. 2003 Sep; 19(3): 230-42. (40 ref)

Meredith R. The photography of neonatal bereavement at Wythenshawe Hospital. Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine. 23(4):161-4, 2000 Dec. (7 refs) http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/01405110050198618

Primeau MR. Recht CK. Professional bereavement photographs: one aspect of a perinatal bereavement program. JOGNN: Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing. 1994 Jan; 23(1): 22-5. (4 ref)

Riches G. Dawson P. Lost children, living memories: the role of photoraphs in processes of grief and adjustment among bereaved parent. Death Studies. 1998 Mar-Apr; 22(2): 121-40. (31 ref)

Sawyer DR. Perinatal bereavement: the photographer's role in infant death. Journal of Biological Photography. 66(2):35-7, 1998 Apr.

Speed R. In memory of Sarah: when a baby died suddenly, enrolled nurse Ron Speed found a very practical way to help the grieving parents. Enrolled Nurse. 1997 Sep; 19.

Weinstein LB. Hames C. MCN's bereavement issue. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 2001 Nov-Dec; 26(6): 333.