Figures
Inaction (No. 10).
This image is from a series of photographic works entitled Inaction, which includes both black and white photographs and a digital video of individual bird and squirrel carcasses. Using a medium-format view camera to capture an impeccable amount of detail from each form, the viewer is seduced into observing the unavoidable details of the world. Against the abstract expressionist canvas of the roadside, death becomes both an enticing and an unsentimental object of reflection. While the formulaic framing of the subject refers loosely to a tradition of medical cataloging, there is an underlying and conflicting sense of concern for the deceased.
Margaret Shear is a San Francisco-based artist and designer. She received Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Studio Art and Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University. Her recent work incorporates depictions of inanimate objects as a means of exploring intimacy and empathy in a world increasingly decentralized by technology.
Image Credit: Margaret Shear (http://www.shearshear.com)
Citation: (2006) PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 3(2) February 2006. PLoS Med 3(2): ev03.i02. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pmed.v03.i02
Published: February 28, 2006
Copyright: © 2006 Margaret Shear. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
This image is from a series of photographic works entitled Inaction, which includes both black and white photographs and a digital video of individual bird and squirrel carcasses. Using a medium-format view camera to capture an impeccable amount of detail from each form, the viewer is seduced into observing the unavoidable details of the world. Against the abstract expressionist canvas of the roadside, death becomes both an enticing and an unsentimental object of reflection. While the formulaic framing of the subject refers loosely to a tradition of medical cataloging, there is an underlying and conflicting sense of concern for the deceased.
Margaret Shear is a San Francisco-based artist and designer. She received Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Studio Art and Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University. Her recent work incorporates depictions of inanimate objects as a means of exploring intimacy and empathy in a world increasingly decentralized by technology.
Image Credit: Margaret Shear (http://www.shearshear.com)