--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Something about the occasion makes me…" description: "\"“Something about the occasion makes me think I'm at my own wake. Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything un..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/don-delillo-294_business_something-about-the-occasion-makes-me-th_1306331.jpg" --- # Something about the occasion makes me think I'm at my own… ![“Something about the occasion makes me think I'm at my own wake. Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything until the subject is dead. This is the whole point. We're doing this to create a kind of sentimental past for people in the decades to come. It's…” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/don-delillo-294_business_something-about-the-occasion-makes-me-th_1306331.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/don-delillo-294_business_something-about-the-occasion-makes-me-th_1306331.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/don-delillo-294_business_something-about-the-occasion-makes-me-th_1306331.jpg) > ““Something about the occasion makes me think I'm at my own wake. Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything until the subject is dead. This is the whole point. We're doing this to create a kind of sentimental past for people in the decades to come. It's their past, their history we're inventing here. And it's not how I look now that matters. It's how I'll look in twenty-five years as clothing and faces change, as photographs change. The deeper I pass into death, the more powerful my picture becomes. Isn't this why picture-taking is so ceremonial? It's like a wake. And I'm the actor made up for the laying-out.”” [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on photography as a ritual that captures a future memory, turning the living subject into a symbolic dead figure whose image gains power as time passes. **In simple terms:** Photography is a ceremonial act that preserves a future memory of the living. Key Takeaway Recognize the lasting impact of images you create. Themes memory mortality identity legacy Mood reflective nostalgic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - family gatherings - historical archives - personal memoirs - artistic projects Key Concepts existentialism symbolism temporal perception Questions to Reflect On - How does the act of photographing affect your perception of mortality? - What responsibilities do we have when creating lasting images? A Different Perspective It may romanticize death and overlook the present reality of the subject. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Five years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) [Photographs Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs-change-799206/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Picture Morbid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picture-morbid-2509603/) [Portrait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portrait/) [Sitting Picture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting-picture-2509602/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wake Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-sitting-4306414/) ## Related quotes > [Sitting for a picture is morbid business. A portrait doesn't begin to mean anything until the subject is dead. 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