A Darkly Humorous Look At Crime Scene Photography

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Jeanette May
Community member

Designed to be murdered by your dog or cat, pet toys appear as dead bodies in my crime scene photographs. “Morbidity & Mortality” is my light-hearted and fluffy response to the current popular fascination with cinematic murder and forensics.

Many recent films and CSI-style television programs reveal an obsession with corpses—specifically, artfully composed images of the deceased. While death and Memento Mori are perennial motifs in art, contemporary US culture is particularly awash in carefully arranged and creatively “off’d” stiffs. I faced the challenge of examining, yet not reproducing, this violence.

In these staged photographs of recently discovered victims, the body is that of a “dead” pet toy. There is a perverse quality to toys that resemble real animals—already deceased or clearly marked for death. The resulting images start a conversation about our society’s interest in the macabre. A sense of humor helps!

More info: jeanettemay.com

A Darkly Humorous Look At Crime Scene Photography

11Kviews

Jeanette May

Author, Community member

As a visual artist, I use a critical, sometimes playful, approach to investigate representation itself. My artwork often examines the use of visual pleasure and the power of the gaze in contemporary culture. Although I now work exclusively in photography, my background in painting influences the subjects I explore and my approach to art production. I “make” photographs: constructed, staged, lit, and carefully considered.