Photographer Tom Philips “Dies” in Over 50 Places Around the World

“Dead in the Torqued Ellipses”
(Credit: thedeadphotos.com)

“The Dead Photos” is a series of over 50 images taken all over the world in which photo artist Tom Philips has taken self-portraits of himself lying “dead.” Death is a universal, inescapable part of the human experience, yet intimately unique for each person who must take this journey. While the photographs themselves range from spectacular to ordinary, “The Dead Photos” poses one peculiar question: What would it be like to die in this place?

“Dead in the American West”
(Credit: thedeadphotos)

Each photo’s title follows the “Dead in/at…” form and is accompanied by the precise date and time of its creation, reflecting the specificity of a death certificate. The images are everything from touching to ridiculous, poetic to befuddling, heavily located in the material world and extending to the great beyond.

Some images have strong historical and political overtones, such as “Dead in the Killing Fields,” “Dead in the Arab Spring,” and “Dead at the Monument.” Others are more ambivalent about the location where they were created, evoking place as an emotional and mental construct, such as “Dead in the American Dream,” “Dead at the Opera,” and “Dead in Hell.” Other images seem to be random, possibly expressing Philips’ personal relationship with a place, such as “Dead in South Africa” and “Dead at Paraa Falls.”

“Dead in the Arab Spring”
(Credit: thedeadphotos.com)

In every image the body is presented as a material artifact, almost inconsequential compared to its surroundings. The exception is “Dead in the Hereafter” (dated 10:10 p.m., November 26th, 2068), which evokes astral projection, out-of-body experiences, and time travel or theories of multiple universes and aspects of time co-existing simultaneously in each moment. “Dead in the Hereafter” could even be considered the thesis statement of the whole series, insofar as “The Dead Photos” relies upon the desire of both photographer and viewer to experience the body as a vessel that holds a non-material entity (the spirit, soul, essence, etc.).

“Dead in St. Croix”
(Credit: thedeadphotos.com)

“The Dead Photos” are a reminder that, while one’s own death may seem like a far-off dream, the dead fill spaces that the living traverse on a regular basis. Whether strolling through Central Park or exploring dilapidated buildings in St. Croix, we walk on the bones of the dead — those long-forgotten love stories and petty wars whose intricacies survive as behavioral imprints that govern our daily lives.