New book of photographs documents the global traditions of "Living with the Dead"

HYPERALLERGIC
By Allison Meier
Konrad II, Basilica Minor of St Michael, Mondsee, Austria (© 2015 Dr. Paul Koudounaris, all images courtesy Thames & Hudson)
Aside from scattered tombstones lodged in cemetery earth, most people in the Western world have little physical connection to their dead. Bodies decay underground, and when families move on, the sites are forgotten. "Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us," a photography book by Paul Koudounaris out this month from Thames & Hudson, is a visual narrative of how a more visceral relationship to the dead thrives across the globe. It suggests that what may seem macabre is more common to human history than we realize. [link]