Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite Corpse is a work-in-progress for my PhD research. Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s true story of a girl who was mysteriously murdered in New York in 1841, I am trawling through newspaper archives and using forensic photography techniques.

“Believe nothing you hear, and only half that you see.” Edgar Allan Poe.

I am a photographic artist using lighting techniques to reveal detail which is invisible to the naked eye.

Studying a PhD in crime photo novels, this practice-based research crosses interdisciplinary fields of study within three areas of interest: crime, photography and creative non-fiction writing. 

Using techniques carried out by forensic photographers, I investigate the boundaries between science and fine art.

Originally inspired by research into my family tree during lockdown, I use family photographs, letters, diaries, vintage ephemera and artefacts, to bring people to life using a blend of fact and fiction.

I am currently working collaboratively with a collective of artists and costumiers to recreate the true story of a murder victim documented by Edgar Allan Poe.