This series of portraits demonstrates a young woman’s series of poor choices, displayed upon her body, which leads her to her current situation, deceased and in a creative representation of a morgue. The photos show a summary of her life; we begin with a brief glimpse of her childhood, through her teen years, and young adulthood, where the images are more distressing and the use of the color red is more frequent as the storyline progresses.
Pre-production
Not only is this piece a symbolic demonstration of the difficulties of becoming an adult, but also is also a morbid commentary on how decisions can truly impact one’s life. I also chose to contextualize The Autopsy in the 1990’s. To capture this I used a Canon PowerShot ELPH 180 for the preliminary images. Its masterful for that overexposed feel that is reminiscent of the 90’s. The grittiness of the grain adds a textural palpability.
So, I took seven original images with that camera, and used a projector to project these images onto my subject and purposely left it out of focus, as if to replicate the concept of a body holding memories.
This storyline is completed by the current setting which she located. It is sterile looking, via the use of white key lighting, plastic tablecloths that create a reflective effect. Adding as little possible to each frame, alluding to a creative demonstration of a morgue.