The Body Farm is located in Knoxville, Tennessee and was established by anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass in 1981. There had previously been no facility that studied the human decomposing process, and The Body Farm paved the way for much of modern forensic anthropology- particularly in determining the time and circumstances of death. Many people have and continue to donate their bodies to this 2.5-acre facility, where their bodies are placed throughout the landscape and left to decompose. Some are buried while others are left in the open, submerged in water, tucked away in car trunks, etc.
Dr. Bass has also written two non-fictional books documenting the birth of The Body Farm and interesting cases throughout his career as the official Tennessee state forensic anthropologist. I read both “Death’s Acre” and “Beyond The Body Farm” this summer and found that they have drastically changed the way I think about forensics and ironically developed a distaste for TV shows like CSI. I can now also rattle off a few amazing facts about ethnicity, sex, and age based solely on bones and have even questioned my own ethnic heritage.
I have been interested the details of death for more than a few years, so finding the above information was like hitting the jackpot… in educational speak. It definitely reminded me how I felt exploring my project in Tom’s Conceptual Photography class.
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An artist I have recently become interested in that also relates to my work/interests is Marian Drew. She finds her subjects on the side of the road in Australia. They are based on traditional still lifes and comment on a disregard for wild animals and wastefulness. Her images tend to be minimal and incorporate amazingly creative lighting. Her method of lighting begins in complete darkness where she uses a torch to achieve haloing affects around her objects. From far away her images look like paintings with delicate details in chiaroscuro lighting that most definitely excite and light a fire inside my chest!
I would love to experiment with alternative lighting methods, perhaps including studio lights, at night.
I'm dancing around the blogs and I just have to say those images of Marian Drew are stunning. The lighting is great, I agreeee.
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