Before and After Death

Here is a must see set of portraits of life before and after death. The photographs are on show in an exhibition that opened at the Welcome Collection in London on 9th April.

At the heart of journalism there is, or always should be, a desire to illuminate a subject worthy of examination. This project succeeded in throwing some light on to the subject that is perhaps most worthy of examination, and certainly most obscured, in human experience: the great mystery of death itself. And it’s a mystery of equal significance wherever in the world you’re clicking your mouse.
Guardian Unlimited – News Blog

While in London on Tuesday I met an old sangha friend and loyal reader of Moving Mountains. He now lives and works in Singapore. By a happy set of coincidences we fetched up in the same town at the same time. We met, he and his partner and I at the British Library for afternoon tea. (What a splendid place). If I were in London I’d make a point of viewing these photographs. Simply viewing them on-line is a meditation.

Like Great Western Trains and the London Underground my visa application is suffering from severe delays. Thankfully I’m not suffering severely from the delay, although I’ll not be leaving these shores as soon as I’d thought.

Thanks to Julius for sending me the link.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

One thought on “Before and After Death”

  1. I notice that the Wellcome Trust on its news page mentions some public talks around the exhibition. In particular, the talk “What makes a good death”, for which one of the speakers is Peter Harvey, Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland.

    http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2008/WTD039403.htm

    “What Makes a Good Death?, Thursday 17 April, 19.00-20.30
    Talking about dying isn’t easy yet it’s a familiar idea and an important moment in our lives. How can we prepare ourselves and our loved ones? Where should we look to for guidance and advice? Medicine? Religion? The past? Join our guests to explore how their fields can contribute to preparation for and understanding of dying.

    Speakers:
    Peter Harvey, Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Sunderland
    Iona Heath, GP and author of ‘Matters of Life and Death’
    Ruth Richardson, historian of medicine”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.