RECENT WORK: The Death of Gaddafi

On October 20th 2011, the former dictatorial ruler of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed after being captured by Libyan Rebel forces in the besieged city of Sirte. Though the details of his death are vague and surprisingly undocumented, his corpse became a media and social mecca. Thousands of Libyans and hundreds of journalists lined up for days to view the corpse of this once powerful and feared man. Many made photographs, portraits of themselves posing with the corpses of Gaddafi, his son Muatassim and the former defense minister, Abu Bakr Younes. These images were in turn posted to the internet via social media, creating a virtual documentary of a macabre memorial. While I was not in Libya at the time of Gaddafi's demise I found it fitting to experience his "death" via Google image search and I began to photograph my own unique take on the display of his body.

All these images were made during the four day period that Gaddafi's body was on display in a commerical food refrigerator in Sirte, Libya.