Before and After

This sombre portrait is from a series of people photographed before and after they died. It is a challenging and poignant study by German photographer Walter Schels and his partner Beate Lakotta, who recorded interviews with the subjects in their final days. The series reveals much about dying - and living. Life Before Death is at the Wellcome Collection in the UK from April 9-May 18.

This portrait is of Klara Behrens. She was 83 years old.

The photo on the left was taken on February 6, 2004.

From the Guardian website: She knows she hasn’t got much longer to live. “Sometimes, I do still hope that I’ll get better,” she says. “But then when I’m feeling really nauseous, I don’t want to carry on living. And I’d only just bought myself a new fridge-freezer! If I’d only known!”

The photo on the right was taken on March 3 2004.

Before she died she stated, "I wonder if it’s possible to have a second chance at life? I don’t think so. I’m not afraid of death — I’ll just be one of the million, billion grains of sand in the desert…”