The invention of the Daguerreotype camera in 1839 made portraiture much more commonplace, as many of those who were unable to afford a painted portrait could afford a photography session.

This cheaper and quicker method also provided the middle class with a means for memorializing dead loved ones. These photographs served less as a reminder of mortality, than as a keepsake to remember the deceased. This was especially common with infants and young children. Childhood mortality rates were extremely high, and a post-mortem photograph might have been the only image of the child the family ever had.

The invention of the Carte de Visite, allowed multiple prints to be made from a single negative, allowing copies of the image to be mailed to relatives.