Photographing the Dead – ‘The devil’s in the details’
This is a fascinating yet possibly controversial series of photographs depicting the process of cremating a human body. Although the usual purpose of this blog is to talk about design, I felt it was an opportunity to highlight what I find to be an interesting topic for discussion and give you a sneak peek at the latest work of a great photographer (and good friend of mine).
Stephen Lewis has been a press photographer working for various newspapers since 1998; he now also does weddings in a documentary style. Over the last few years he has been doing an MA in photography (like he didn’t have enough to do already). This exhibition is part of the final show for the course.
Stephen talks about his work:
“I initially set out to document the mechanical process of cremation but found my own mantra for the project in the ‘The devil’s in the details’. That is, little elements of the process became fascinating and I found even the most mundane of objects in such an environment became charged with significance and symbolism. Metaphors of death, symbolic suggestion of religious belief, suggestion of an after-life, even the evidence of life itself, in the most mundane items and even in the construction of the crematorium itself.”
“The more obvious imagery can be found in the photographs of the actual burning of the body which reflect a hell-ish vision. These were achieved through the viewing aperture which is a small window of very thick glass. The intense temperatures inside the chamber and the glass itself created a slight distortion, this coupled with the speed and unpredictability of the flame movement and no way of knowing how the body will ’sit’ as the coffin burns away, made it a challenging but extremely fascinating process with which to work.”
“One central aim of this project was to show the unseen ‘journey’ that many of us will take but obviously never experience and through that journey to confront the viewer with the processes of death and our own mortality. Ultimately I have found through the care and attention to every detail taken in the cremation process, a sense of the dignity ascribed to the dead and through that a sense of our own humanity.”
See the exhibition and that of the other MA grads:
Personally I find this work fascinating, thought provoking and original. What do you think? Do you feel moved by the pictures? Offended?
Toni
