Bones
by Maria Michopulu
bachelor of fine arts, photography major
Fourth Year | Graduation year: 2024
My series Bones consists of nine digital photographs of casted bones.
I decided to work with beef bones as a way to show an object representing a long journey, ending with bone broth, something of a high value and use. A cow is killed, we eat its meat, use its skin, its fat, we cook the bones and eat the broth. We are only able to see the bones once all of this is finished and their appearance is revealed to us.
I was fascinated with how visually detailed and interesting they are. I wanted to continue the journey of use by looking and revealing their physical form. The casting allowed me to turn the focus on their shape only and photography helped me look closer.
I photographed the casted bones inside the darkroom. I wanted to point out the fact that, as with bones, the darkroom as a physical space can give us more than what we usually use it for. The red light gave the bones mystery, secret and the game of showing and hiding. I am trying to lead the viewer to look at the details of the structure, without necessarily revealing right away what they are looking at.
About the Artist
Maria Michopulu is a fourth-year BFA photography student at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Maria was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic and is now living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Her interest is based in experimental and extended photography, working with the concept of secret and mystery, physical space, the possibilities of light and visuality. She is letting the viewer wonder and question what they see, only revealing a part of what is shown. Working both digitally and in the dark room, Maria is exploring how photography can provide us with information and the importance of the medium.