Decidedly Grim

How awesome is this ivory carving of a “Tooth Worm”?

Read all about it at Honeyed.

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Paul Komoda is an amazing artist who previously sculpted a magnificent bust of John “The Elephant Man” Merrick. Now he’s started a “Human Pathology” series and his first entry is the wonderfully grim “Tertiary Syphilis” which is based on an infamous photograph of an actual syphilis victim.

The wonderful Coilhouse has all the details here.

Thanks to Lady Morgana for the suggestion.

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“Peur(s) Du Noir” is a 2007 French film about fear that consists of several black and white animations done by noted comic book creators and graphic designers. SwtP sent me a link to an excellent excerpt by Richard McGuire from the film. Good stuff!

Extract F

Here’s the official website:
Fear(s) Of The Dark

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Nick Cave’s song “The Curse Of Milhaven,” which details the escapades of a murderous 15-year-old girl (swoon…), is one of my favorites from his morbid masterpiece Murder Ballads.   Here’s an excellent live version of the song from 2001.

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Here’s an excellent creepy short film about an over-caffeinated driver who finds himself in an alternate reality.

Still Life

Thanks to gsteinma for the link.

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I’ve added some new images to my photography page, The Camera Dementia. If you’re interested in somewhat dark, hopefully somewhat artistic photography, please have a look. Unfortunately, due to a problem with spammers, I’ve had to disable commenting on the site.

The Camera DeMentia

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Thomas Scott Kuebler is a sculptor who crafts amazingly realistic likenesses of freaks, witches, monsters, super heroes, and other extremely creepy humans. Take a look at his gallery – you won’t be disappointed!

Amazing! Astounding! Absolutely Alive!

Thanks to Elizabeth for the link.

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I’ve been in heaven this week housesitting for my sister in California because the Ovation channel has been featuring photography documentaries every night. On Wednesday night, I caught the best one yet: a documentary on one of my favorite photographers, the distinctly morbid Sally Mann, entitled What Remains: The Life And Work Of Sally Mann. The film follows her as she works on her fascinating series about death, What Remains. Sally is an amazing artist – working with huge glass negatives using the archaic wet colloidal photography process that was used by Matthew Brady during the Civil War – but the best thing about this documentary is realizing what a kindred morbid soul she really is. She’s the type of person who keeps the body of her favorite dog until it has decayed and then holds its mummified leg up and says in awe, “This leg ran all over this farm”. She’s also the type of person who gets permission to photograph corpses at the University of Tennessee “Body Farm” and walks up to a mummified corpse, leans over to get close, touches it and talks about how amazing mummified skin is. And never once complains about the stench or needs to wear a mask. She’s awesome.

And her photographs? Even more awesome. The wet colloidal process creates mysterious imagery that is perfectly suited for the subject matter. I must admit that I don’t actually have the book yet (it has been on my Amazon wish list for several years), but I am ordering it immediately. Salon has a few images from the book in this review of the documentary that give you an idea of their quality: What Remains.

I highly recommend you take the time to watch the DVD (which is available from Netflix). It’s a fascinating look at an intelligent artist with a touch of the macabre. (Oh, and her darkly evocative photographs of her children are awesome as well.)

What Remains: The Life And Work Of Sally Mann (DVD)

What Remains (Book)

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I just finished watching a documentary on Shelby Lee Adams, a photographer who snaps stark and frightening portraits of poverty-stricken Appalachian hillbillies. In other words, the people from Deliverance. And these people, as depicted in the documentary and in the images, made my blood run cold. If I believed in Hell, my vision of Hell would be to have to live with them. I hope I don’t have nightmares, but the chance of avoiding their inbred faces in my darkest dreaming seems slim. Have a look for yourself!

Images by Shelby Lee Adams – People and Animals
Napier Family Photos by Shelby Lee Adams

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While driving from Charleston to Savannah on vacation with the DeSpairs a couple weeks ago, I managed to convince them to take a detour to the ruins of the Old Sheldon Church in South Carolina. (It had been built in the 1740′s, burned down by the British, rebuilt then burned down again by Sherman’s army in 1865.) I took a roll of film shot with my beloved Holga camera and they turned out very nice, indeed. Please take a look and let me know your thoughts.

Old Sheldon Church Ruins

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