"Ink and Silver: Medicine, Photography, and the Printed Book, 1845-1880," Columbia University Medical Center, NYC

Stephen E. Novak--Head, Archives & Special Collections at A.C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University Medical Center--just sent word of this wonderful looking free lecture on 19th century medicine and photography taking place at Columbia University Medical Center on Thursday, April 3. Full details follow. Hope very much to see you there

History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series
Ink and Silver: Medicine, Photography, and the Printed Book, 1845-1880
Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD, Coordinator of Public Services, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Refreshments, 5:30, Lecture 6pm
Russ Berrie Pavilion, Room 1
1150 St. Nicholas Avenue at West 168th Street
Sponsored by the Columbia University Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library
Free and Open to the Public

The impact of the introduction of photography after 1839 on the arts and popular culture has long been extensively explored.  The use of photography in medicine has also attracted the interest of historians and archivists, resulting in many significant collections of material both in public and private hands.

However, far too often, individual images have been made to stand alone, far removed from their original context, and therefore mysterious to the viewer. Why were these pictures taken? Who saw them? Were they meant for private study or professional publication?  How did they reflect the techniques and aesthetics of the rest of contemporary photography? Most importantly, how, in a purely technical sense, did one produce and publish medical photographs in the 19th century?

Dr. Greenberg will address the use of photography in 19th-century printed medical books, both from technological and aesthetic viewpoints, using the vast photographic resources of the National Library of Medicine to highlight milestones in the history of medical photography, and to explain how they were presented to the viewer.

The lecture is on Thursday, April 3 at 6pm in Room 1 of the Russ Berrie Pavilion.  Refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30.

Image: from G.-B. Duchenne’s 1862 Mecanisme de la Physionomie Humaine.

"Spirt Photography" A New Midnight Archive by Ronni Thomas Featuring the Incomparable Shannon Taggart

I am so exited about the newest episode of The Midnight Archive, Ronni Thomas' fantastic documentary series centered around Brooklyn's Observatory and filmed in conjunction with Morbid Anatomy. This episode, entitled "Spirit Photography," features the incomparable Shannon Taggart--über talent, good friend, Observatory colleague--on the curiously entwined history of spiritualism and photography.

To watch the episode, simply press play in the viewer above, or click here. More on the episode, in the words of director/creator Ronni Thomas:

The Midnight Archive - Episode 16: Spirit Photography
Photographer Shannon Taggart explores the Victorian born art of ‘spirit photography’, a practice in which the spirit of a loved one or guide would appear in one’s photograph. Shannon takes a heartfelt and unconventional look at a topic that had been plagued with scandal. For more of her work, please visit her website shannontaggart.com.

For more on the series, to see any of the episodes, or to sign up for the mailing list and thus be alerted to future uploads, visit The Midnight Archive website by clicking here. You can also "like" it on Facebook--and be alerted in this way--by clicking here.

"Held," Jane Fradgley, Guy’s Hospital, London, Through March 2013

“I was fascinated by the seemingly comforting strong dresses, and related this form of protective care to my own experiences in hospital and encounters with modern day psychiatric care. My aim was to create a representation of the pieces which lay somewhere between documentary and poetry, incorporating my love of abstraction yet offering a clear portrayal of the pieces for the viewer to interpret themselves." --Jane Fradgley, Held

Last week a friend brought me to see a wonderful exhibition of photography by artist Jane Fradgley; the body of work, entitled "Held," responds to a collection of "strong clothing"--i.e. restraint clothing used in 19th century asylums--kept in the stores of Bethlem Royal Hospital and Museum. The exhibition will be on view in Atrium 2 of Guy's Hospital through March 8, 2013. You can see a few of Fradgley's strikingly uncanny photographs above, but I highly recommend you visit them in person if you can to get a real sense of scale (they are printed life-sized) and emotive impact.

Full information follows:

Held                 
by Jane Fradgley
Funded by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity
Atrium 2
Guy’s Hospital
7th November 2012 – 8th March 2013

This new photographic exhibition by artist Jane Fradgley is informed by the collection of strong clothing housed at the Bethlem Royal Hospital Archive & Museum, Beckenham, Kent. The history of this largely unexplored area of mental health care is both powerful and poignant. Through investigation, the artist’s intention is to open new dialogue and debate around protection and restraint in mental health practice. With a background as a fashion designer and a passionate interest in functional and tailored garments, Fradgley was inspired to delve into the archive after seeing Victorian portrait photographs of patients at Bethlem wearing unusual quilted dresses. 

“I was fascinated by the seemingly comforting strong dresses, and related this form of protective care to my own experiences in hospital and encounters with modern day psychiatric care. My aim was to create a representation of the pieces which lay somewhere between documentary and poetry, incorporating my love of abstraction yet offering a clear portrayal of the pieces for the viewer to interpret themselves. 
I enjoyed the intimacy when alone with the garments, and felt closer to them by zooming in on details. One by one the pieces were carefully brought to me like offerings for my lens. They appeared reverential and it seemed fitting to respect this when arranging them in a staged setting in the studio. As each session passed I grew very fond of the pieces, perhaps my own projection but I felt as though they had certain characters. I hoped to convey the essence of the people who wore each garment as I felt great energy from the textiles - possibly there were many wearers and many stories never to be told. I had never imagined that these old garments would hold so much emotive substance. For me the purpose of the strong clothing was not to invoke or exacerbate fear or anxiety in the patient, rather the attention to detail in creating such well constructed garments was to bring some dignity, serenity, peace and tranquility 
to the wearer as an antidote to their anguish. Wishing to engage with that sense of calm, I explored soft lighting techniques, however some of the garments responded best in the darkness of the shadows, 
a reminder of the inevitable blackness of mental illness”.

Strong clothing was a rather euphemistic term used to describe certain forms of restraint used in late 19th century asylums. While chains, strait-jackets (known as strait-waistcoats) and similar garments were outlawed during the ‘non-restraint’ movement of the 1840s and ’50s, other methods of ‘mechanical restraint’ were permitted by the Commissioners in Lunacy (the government body who inspected and licensed asylums for much of the 19th century). The intention of strong clothing (including strong dresses and padded gloves) was to protect patients, both preventing self-inflicted injury and the destruction of their clothing.

“Strong dresses,” as described by Bethlem Superintendent George Savage in 1888, were “made of stout linen or woollen material, and lined throughout with flannel. The limbs are all free to move, but the hands are enclosed in the extremities of the dress, which are padded. …There are no strait-waistcoats, handcuffs, or what may be called true instruments of restraint in Bethlem”. Savage claimed that, by avoiding recourse to the use of sedatives or padded cells for violent or destructive patients, many “were thus really granted liberty by means of the slight restraint put upon them”.

The terms, descriptions and types of garment used were fraught with meaning for contemporaries, many of whom saw themselves as enlightened humanitarians. Others, however, did not agree, and the ‘principle of non-restraint’ remained an ongoing matter of debate. By the turn of the 20th century strait-jackets appeared to have returned 
to some institutions. Although the exact dates of the garments seen in these photographs are unknown, given the types of garments reported by the Commissioners in Lunacy as in use at this time, it is likely that they were adopted in the period 1880 –1920.

Through this historical perspective, held reminds us of the difficulty of placing a clear line between care, cure and control in a mental health context. Treatment providers invariably have to make extremely difficult decisions, indicating the importance of opening up debate around physical restraint and chemical intervention in mental health care today.

We are planning a symposium on the subject in 2013, if you would like to be informed about 
or participate in that symposium contact Sarah Chaney at s.chaney@ucl.ac.uk.

You can find out more about Jane Fradgley's work by clicking here.Thanks so much to Jane for the images and materials, and to Phil Loring for introducing me to her work.

The "Scare Houses" of Lisa Kereszi, Time Magazine "Light Box"

Why do we like haunted houses?... On one level, this is easy to understand. It’s all about death—that undiscovered country our culture keeps off the thought-map. Death, death, death, coming at us in the form of ghosts, monsters, maggots, snakes, killer clowns, necromancers, headless horsemen, slime crawlers, banshees, and all manner of rotting flesh and decay, aiming to infect us with its fate. The haunted house takes us to death’s door: sewers, graveyards, mortuaries, abattoirs, bottomless pits and of course, hell itself, yawning wide to receive us. Abandon all hope and enter at your own risk!
--"Haunt Me: The Scare Houses of Lisa Kereszi," by Ginger Strand, Time Magazine's "Lightbox"

You can read the entire article--and view the entire collection of strangely sad photographs of Halloween "Scare Houses"by friend of Morbid Anatomy Lisa Kereszi, s sample of which you see above--by clicking here.

Morbid Anatomy Coming to Chicago: "A Journey into the Curious World of the Medical Museum," The Chicago Cultural Center, Thursday, May 3, 6 PM

For those of you in and about Chicago, I would love to see you this Thursday, May 3, at The Chicago Cultural Center where I will be giving a lecture entitled "A Journey into the Curious World of the Medical Museum" as part of a series of events supplementing the amazing looking  Morbid Curiosity exhibition. The images above--drawn from my exhibitions The Secret Museum and Anatomical Theatre--constitute a tiny sampling of the many images I will be showing in the presentation.

Full details follow; very much hope very much to see you there.

A Journey into the Curious World of the Medical Museum
An Illustrated Lecture by Joanna Ebenstein
_______


The Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington Street Chicago, IL 60602
Thursday, May 3, 2012
6 o’clock PM

Abounding with images and insight, Ms. Ebenstein’s lecture will introduce you to the Medical Museum and its curious denizens, from the Anatomical Venus to the Slashed Beauty, the allegorical fetal skeleton tableau to the taxidermied bearded lady, the flayed horseman of the apocalypse to the three fetuses dancing a jig. Ebenstein will discuss the history of medical modeling, survey the great artists of the genre, and examine the other death-related arts and amusements which made up the cultural landscape at the time that these objects were originally created, collected, and exhibited.

Joanna Ebenstein is a New York-based artist and independent researcher. She runs the popular Morbid Anatomy Blog and the related Morbid Anatomy Library, where her privately held cabinet of curiosities and research library are made available by appointment. Her work has been shown and published internationally, and she has lectured at museums and conferences around the world. For more information, visit http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com

You can find out more by clicking here.

Images top to bottom, as drawn from my recent photo exhibitions The Secret Museum and Anatomical Theatre:

1. "Anatomical Venus" Wax wodel with human hair and pearls in rosewood and Venetian glass case, "La Specola" (Museo di Storia Naturale), Florence, Italy, Probably modeled by Clemente Susini (around 1790)
2. "Slashed Beauty" Wax wodel with human hair and pearls in rosewood and Venetian glass case, "La Specola" (Museo di Storia Naturale), Florence, Italy, Probably modeled by Clemente Susini (around 1790)
3. "Anatomical Venuses," Wax Models with human hair in rosewood and Venetian glass cases,The Josephinum, Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence circa 1780s, Vienna, Austria
4. The Mütter Museum : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pathological model; 19th Century?
5. Wax Model of Eye Surgery, Musée Orfila, Paris. Courtesy Université Paris Descartes
6. Wax Anatomical Models in Rosewood and Venetian Glass Boxes, The Josephinum, Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence circa 1780s, Vienna, Austria
7. Wax moulages; Probably by Carl Henning (1860-1917) or Theodor Henning (1897-1946); Early 20th Century; Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum (Pathologisch-anatomisches Bundesmuseum): Vienna, Austria, Austria
8. Plaster Models in Pathological Cabinet, The Museum of the Faculty of Medicine at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow
9. Skeleton and hand models for "la médecine opératoire" Musée Orfila, Paris. Courtesy Université Paris Descartes

Morbid Anatomy in the Huffington Post

A special thank you to journalist Tanja M. Laden for writing such a lovely Huffington Post piece about the Morbid Anatomy photo projects The Secret Museum and Anatomical Theatre. Check it out--and vote on your favorite images in the slideshow!--by clicking here. The winning image thus far is shown above. Who knew?

Original Ellis Island Magic Lantern Slides from AMNH at Observatory Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow night, Proteus Gowanus and Morbid Anatomy present at Observatory! Hope to see you there.

Projection of Original Ellis Island Lantern Slides from the Collection of The American Museum of Natural History & Meredith Monk Screening
Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 8pm
Observatory, 543 Union Street (enter via Proteus Gowanus Gallery)
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Tomorrow night, join Proteus Gowanus and The Morbid Anatomy Library for a projection of original lantern slides of Ellis Island immigrants from the collection of the American Museum of Natural History presented by Barbara Mathe, head of special collections at the museum library. Following, we will view a special screening of Meredith Monk’s short film, ‘Ellis Island’ (1981), performed and filmed in the island’s ruins before the start of renovations for the Ellis Island Museum, which opened in 1990. Ellis Island was the gateway for the majority of immigrants to the United States, processing over 12 million immigrants from 1892 until 1954.

More--including directions--can be found here.

Image: Ellis Island Portraits - Lapland children, possibly from Sweden; Sherman, Augustus F. (Augustus Francis) — Photographer. [ca. 1906-1914]; Source: William Williams papers / Photographs of immigrants (more info); found here.

Cabinet Cards / Storydress II, Albumen Print Photographs of Life-size Paper Mache and Plaster Sculpture, Christine Elfman, 2008

Cabinet Cards / Storydress II

albumen prints from wet-plate collodion negatives
4.25 x 6.5 inches, series of 5 mounted on cabinet cards
6.5 x 8.5 inches, series of 10 framed
2008

Storydress II is a series of photographs of a life-size paper mache and plaster sculpture. The dress is made of paper mache stories that I recorded of my great-grandmother’s autobiographical reminiscences. Each photograph contains legible words. The sculpture was photographed with the wet-plate collodion negative process, printed on handmade gold-toned Albumen paper, and burnished onto antique Cabinet Card mounts. For exhibition the cabinet card photographs are displayed using an antique wooden Graphoscope (magnifying device) and shelf.

Finding unknown relatives in my family photograph collection, and noticing old photographs of anonymous people in antique stores, I was taken by how many people were forgotten regardless of photography’s intention to “Secure the shadow, ‘ere the substance fades away.” The older the picture, the more forlorn the subject appeared to me. Holding their image, I was impressed with their absence. Storydress II tries to show this underlying subject of photographic portraiture. The 19th century cabinet card is turned inside out, revealing the presence of absence in a medium characterized by rigid detail and anonymity. The figure of reminiscence, cast in plaster, parallels the poetic immobility of the head clamp, used in early photography to prevent movement during long exposures, aptly defined by Barthes as “the corset of my imaginary existence”. The life size cast figure wears a paper mache dress made of family stories: recorded, torn up, and glued back together again. The tedious processes involved in making both the subject and photograph are offerings to time’s taking.

I really, really love this piece--which uses as its base a life-size paper mache and plaster sculpture!--and encourage you to visit Christine Elfman's website and click on "view close up here" to appreciate it fully. Or click on image to see a pleasing larger version.

Via Foxes in Breeches.

"Westminster Abbey 1896 Wax effigy of King Charles II," Sir Benjamin Stone, 1896

Sir Benjamin Stone
'Westminster Abbey 1896 Wax effigy of King Charles II'
Westminster, London, England
1896
Platinum print
Museum no. E.4176-2000

Made soon after Charles's death in February 1685, this life-size effigy stood over the king's grave for 150 years. It then moved to the Islip Chapel, where it was photographed by Stone, and is now in the Abbey museum. The figure is dressed in the robes of the Order of the Garter, possibly those of the king himself.

Found on the Victoria and Albert Museum website. Click on image for larger, more detailed view.

"The Bones of Tenants Whose Burial Rental Was Not Renewed--Santa Cruz Cemetery, Manila," Stereograph, Circa 1899

Title: The bones of tenants whose burial rental was not renewed--Santa Cruz Cemetery, Manila
Creator(s): Strohmeyer & Wyman.,
Date Created/Published: New York : Strohmeyer & Wyman, publishers, c. 1899.
Medium: 1 photographic print on stereo card : stereograph.
Summary: Two men examine a skull from pile of exhumed skulls and bones in cemetery.

From the Library of Congress, Stereographic Card Collection; Via Defrag Tumblr.

"Hunting Trophies," Unknown Artist, British, Albumen silver print, ca. 1870

"Hunting Trophies," Unknown Artist, British, Albumen silver print, ca. 1870. Full description from The Metropolitan Museum of Art website:

Shikar, or big game hunting, was an immensely popular pastime for the ruling class in India prior to British rule. When the British came into power, elaborate hunting ceremonies were used by Indians and British alike to display their prowess and status to each other. The British influence also brought improvements in hunting technology, which spurred an increase in the capture of game. Dozens of animals were killed in a single day's hunt and the trophies decorated the halls of the princes' extravagant hunting lodges. By the late 1870s, the population of many of these rare species had been severely depleted and a government-implemented system for conservation had begun to take hold.

From The Metropolitan Museum of Art website. Found via Wunderkammer blog.

Click in image to see much larger, more detailed version.

Apparatus for Taking Composite Photographs of Skulls, Late 19th/Early 20th C?

Apparatus for Taking Composite Photographs of Skulls.

From the Otis Historical Archives Nat'l Museum of Health & Medicine Flickr set; click here to see more.

"Dermographisme - Démence précoce catatonique," Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtrière, Paris, 1904

Dermographisme [aka dermographism, dermatographismm or "skin writing] - Démence précoce catatonique, from Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtrière, Paris, 1904.

From the Wellcome Collection Skin exhibition website (which featured this image):

Démence Précoce Catatonique Dermographisme. L Trepsat, 1893. From 'Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtrière', 1904.

During the second hald of the 19th century, the belief spread that the phenomenon of dermatographism (or 'dermographism', or 'skin writing') was linked to hysteria and other mental or nervous disorders. Here a female patient at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris has had her diagnosis 'Démence précoce' (dementia praecox) 'written' on her back.

Click on image to see larger version.

Via Rrosehobart Tumblr.

Beautiful Irish Medical Photographs, The Burns Archive, 1870s

The photographs above, dating from the 1870s, picture patients who were operated upon by 19th Century surgeon Edward Stamer O’Grady; these photos, all drawn from the incredible Burns Archive, were featured--paired with their original case histories!--in the most recent issue of Scope Medicine in Focus.

Full story can be found here; you can see a PDF of the article--with additional images--by clicking here.

All images ©2010 The Burns Archive; From top to bottom:

1. Patient of Edward Stamer O'Grady
2. A 50-Year-Old Laborer "MM," Admitted Feb 17, 187
3. Once the 27 Ounce Tumor Was Removed, the Patient "Went Home Quite Well."

“Memento Mori: The Birth and Resurrection of Postmortem Photography,” Merchant's House Museum with the Burns Archive, New York, Through November 29th

The New York Times blog just ran a brief story on a new exhibit I have been dying (sic) to see: “Memento Mori: The Birth and Resurrection of Postmortem Photography,” an exhibition exploring memorial photography then and now, curated in a collaboration between Eva Ulz and the incomparable Burns Archive of New York.

The exhibition--on view at the Merchant's House Museum in lower Manhattan until November 29th--features a collection of antique memorial photography drawn from the incredible Burns Archive curated alongside similarly-themed photographs by contemporary artists such as Joel-Peter Witkin, Sally Mann, Hal Hirshorn, Marian St. Laurent and Sarah Lohman. This intriguing looking exhibition takes as its theme the role of post-mortem photographs at different cultural moments.

As the article explains:

“People dealt with death differently in the 19th century,” says Eva Ulz, the curator of “Memento Mori: The Birth and Resurrection of Postmortem Photography” at the Merchant’s House Museum. “People looked forward to a reunion in heaven. Creating portraits was considered a precursor to that heavenly reunion. They shouldn’t be thought of as creepy.”

As much as it is about religious belief, the show — which was organized in conjunction with the Burns Archive and includes some 145 postmortem images and ephemera taken between the 1840s and the early 1900s — takes as its main subject the role of photography in everyday life, then and now. As the 20th century began to unfold and photography became much more common, Ulz says, postmortem images were sapped of their ritualistic importance.

To help put that shift in context, Ulz asked five contemporary shooters, including Sally Mann, Joel-Peter Witkin, Hal Shirshorn and Sarah Lohman, to contribute their own take on the postmortem photograph. The photographer Marian St. Laurent, who created an actual coffin called “Our Darling: A Memorial of Photography,” sees the exhibit as “a remembrance of photo negatives in the digital age. As we push the limits of advanced seeing in technology, we’ve never been more blind to the power of images.”

Ulz hopes “Momento Mori” will create in viewers a deeper understanding of their relationship with photography today. “I hope they get an idea of where they and their images fit in the cycle of life,” she says. “If you had to choose, which one picture would you want to represent you for all eternity?”

The show--which celebrates the publication of the Burns Archives’ latest book Sleeping Beauty III Memorial Photography: The Children--is on view at the Merchant's House Museum until November 29; you can find out more about the exhibition by clicking here. You can find out more about the new book Sleeping Beauty III Memorial Photography: The Children--which joins its predecessors Sleeping Beauty I and II--by clicking here. To find out more about The Burns Archive, click here; to check out its new and wonderful blog, click here. You can read this NY Times Blog post in its entirety by clicking here.

Thanks to Jim Edmonson of the Dittrick Museum for drawing my attention to this article!

All images from Sleeping Beauty III Memorial Photography the Children/Stanley B. Burns, MD, as found on the article website.

Seeking Private Collections in Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Germany for "Private Cabinets" Photography Project

As alluded to in a few recent posts [1, 2], a week from tomorrow I will be embarking on a trip to Scandinavia and Great Britain with perhaps (time depending) a touch of Germany along the way.

Regular readers might recall that I currently at work on a long-term project exploring extraordinary private collectors and collections, working title: Private Cabinets (more here); while on my travels, I have scheduled to visit and photograph a few more private collections for inclusion in this series and am on the lookout for yet more.

If any Morbid Anatomy readers out there know of any private wunderkammern or extraordinary private collections featuring medical museum type artifacts, waxworks, human remains, scientific models, old natural history, carnival/circus/sideshow or marvels or curiosities of any sort in these parts of the world, or have, perhaps, such a collection of their own they would like to share, please email me at morbidanatomy@gmail.com. Museum and attraction suggestions in the same topic areas also greatly appreciated!

To find out more about the ongoing "Private Cabinet" series, click here. All images above are from the epic private collection of Tim Knox and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan Collection of London, England as featured in my recent Secret Museum exhibition. Click on images to see much larger, finer images, and click here to see the complete Secret Museum collection.

Tomorrow Night at Observatory: "Documenting the Invisible: Spiritualism, Lily Dale, and Talking to the Dead," Illustrated Lecture by Shannon Taggart

Tomorrow night at Observatory! Hope very much to see you there.

Documenting the Invisible: Spiritualism, Lily Dale, and Talking to the Dead
An illustrated lecture by photographer Shannon Taggart
Date: Tuesday, August 31
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Spiritualism is a loosely organized religion based primarily on a belief in the ability to communicate with spirits of the dead. The movement began in upstate New York in 1848 when two young girls named Margaret and Kate Fox claimed to be in contact with the spirit of a dead peddler buried beneath their home. Photographer Shannon Taggart first became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager when her cousin received a reading in Lily Dale, NY, The World’s Largest Spiritualist Community. A medium there revealed a strange family secret about the death of their grandfather that proved to be true. Taggart became deeply curious about how someone could possibly know such a thing.

Thus began a five year photography project focused on Modern Spiritualism. During her image making she immersed myself in the history and philosophy of Spiritualism, had more readings than she can count, experienced spiritual healings, took part in séances, attended a psychic college and sat in a medium’s cabinet, all with her camera. Despite this exposure she finds herself no closer to any definitive answer of what it all means. She feels as if she has peered into a mystery.

Shannon Taggart is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in Applied Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her images have appeared in numerous publications including Blind Spot, Tokion, TIME and Newsweek. Her work has been recognized by the Inge Morath Foundation, American Photography, the International Photography Awards, Photo District News and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace, among others. Her photographs have been shown at Photoworks in Brighton, England, The Photographic Resource Center in Boston, Redux Pictures in New York, the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles and most recently at FotoFest 2010 in Houston. For more about Shannon Taggart, visit www.shannontaggart.com.

You can find out more about this event here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library (more on that here)--by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

Image: Ron with the Fox Sisters, Founders of Spiritualism; Lily Dale, NY © Shannon Taggart

Maud Allen as Salome, Early 20th Century

Maud Allen as Salome, Early 20th Century.

Click on image to view finer and larger version. Via Elise.

"Transport of the Bavaria (Torso)," Alois Löcherer, 1850

Transport of the Bavaria (torso), 1850, Alois Löcherer.

Found at the ICP-Bard MFA Blog. Click on image to see much larger, finer image.

Morbid Anatomy Library New Arrival: "The Dead," Jack Burman, 2010

He shoots in concentration camps, sterile medical laboratories, crumbling archives, curious private collections. He notes that about 90% of his work is done in the Catholic world, places “richly fixated on the body of Mary, the body of Christ, the bodies of the martyrs” and with a “history of sensually violent and death-riddled art.” It’s a tradition that doesn’t exist in North America, and his book serves as a reminder of “everything we left; everything that made us, and somehow drove us to undo that and make ourselves over.--"Jack Burman: Book of the Dead," The Canadian National Post

Canadian photographer Jack Burman's new book--titled, simply, The Dead--is a breathtaking book. Gorgeously produced and sober, this quiet and lovely book is filled with Burman's large-scale photographs exploring the topic of death via a meditative documentation of a variety of human remains. Many of the 52 images which make up this book picture artifacts--from specimens to mummies to medical preparations--that will be familiar to aficionados of medical museums and ossuaries, but the quiet restraint and rich detail Burman achieves in his classically composed images elevate the book above the usual fare.

The book is published by The Magenta Foundation; you can find out more about it--and purchase the book in one of its three editions--by clicking here. You can also come pay the book a visit in the Morbid Anatomy Library where my copy resides atop the New Arrivals pile. You can read more about the book in the recent Canadian National Post article quoted above by clicking here.