Unholy Ghost

Take a look at this photograph. What do you "see" in your mind's eye?

 

A ghost, perhaps? It turns out that is a very apt description of the image.

Here is how the image was created:

This animation represents the entire data set (1,871 slices) of the male cadaver from the Visible Human Project. The animation was played fullscreen on a computer, which was moved around by an assistant while being photographed in a dark environment. The resulting images are long-exposure "light paintings" of the entire cadaver. Variations in the movement of the computer during each exposure created differences in the shape of the body throughout the series.

With a bit of photographic magic, Croix Gagnon and photographer Frank Schott created ghosts that waft in darkened real world backdrops. The effect is also psychologically unsettling because the fleshy core is visible. That effect is further magnified if you know that the cadaver in question is that of Joseph Paul Jemigan, a convicted murderer that was executed in 1993.

As I viewed the set of ghostly compositions, my first thought was of a lost soul destined to float aimlessly and imperceptibly through the land of the living until the end of time. The more I stared at the images, the more I envisioned the potential for redemption, imagining Jemigan's ghost searching for a way to repent and beg for forgiveness from his victim.

Gagnon and Schott call the collection 12:31, the official time of death for Jemigan. They also make an interesting spiritual statement by citing the following verse:

Mark 12:31, "The second most important commandment is this: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."

Clearly Jemigan failed that commandment as did the larger society bent on taking a life for a life.