Life-size photo honour for the dead

Persons passing the Annotto Bay Cemetery in St Mary may be fooled into thinking that the several person-shaped figures in the graveyard are ghosts.

However, Errol Green, director of Exodus Funeral Services which operates in the parish, said that the presence of the life-size images of the deceased in cemeteries represents a new trend in the undertaking business.

"The life-size photograph, it came in right at the time of the corona (COVID-19) when the pandemic started and the body was being prevented from going inside the church," Green said.

He reasoned that the COVID restrictions on funerals and burials created "an emptiness in the church" as the remains were not allowed inside.

"The family has nothing to hold on to, so it kinda make the grieving process a little bit painful for the family, so that is how I invented the life-size photograph to replace the casket itself," Green said.

The undertaker said that the photos can take any form, and often incorporate a memorable character trait of the deceased.

"We have some that we put in a chair to sit down -- so they'll be a chair settings -- and we have some that are beside cars. If the guy used to ride bike we can photoshop him and put him on a bike to sit down, so when you step into the church it look like he's sitting on a bike inside the church," Green said.

He said that while some family members opt to keep the photograph and they will reuse at events such as memorials and parties, others take it to cemetery and place it on top of the grave.

"Everybody wants that kind of service because everyone wants to celebrate their loved-ones in that very special way, so right across Jamaica it is now," Green said.