Art Books Reveal Multicultural Perspective on the Preservation of Human Remains

Image from Heavenly Bodies
Photo: Paul Koudounaris
(Credit: therichest.com)

Paul Koudounaris holds a doctorate in Art History and has cultivated a career based on travelling the world to photograph unusual human remains. He is the author of three books: The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, and Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us.

The Empire of Death explores ossuaries and charnel houses that are works of art in their own right. More than 70 sites were photographed in Austria, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and elsewhere.

Facing pages from Empire of Death
(Credit: amazon.com)

Heavenly Bodies focuses in on the remains of supposed saints that were bejewelled and enshrined for veneration shortly after the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe. As attitudes toward death shifted over time, many of these relics were stored out of sight; Koudounaris is responsible for asking the questions that brought many of them back into the light of day, seen for the first time in over a hundred years.

Saint Luciana (Heiligkreuztal, Germany)
Photo: Paul Koudounaris
(Credit: buzzfeed.com)

Memento Mori is broader in timeline and geographical scope, exploring how the dead are present in the world of the living as memento mori (reminders of death) as much as memento vitae (reminders of life). Images of Koudounaris’ travels to over 250 sites in over 30 countries over the course of a decade reveal that today, all over the world, death and dying are given a place of honor in daily life — a sharp antithesis to the death taboo that haunts the Western world.

A blend of ancient Andean and Catholic beliefs
Photo: Paul Koudounaris
(Credit: dpreview.com)

In all three publications, Koudounaris achieves something revolutionary and yet commonplace in restoring attention to death through the aesthetic beauty of his photography. Moreover, he conducts himself with humor and grace, making his work highly accessible. Find him at his website, www.empiredelamort.com, and check out his interview with Caitlin Doughty (Order of a Good Death) for a look inside his books, and a little chuckle to keep things in perspective.