For his book project Illustrated People, that focuses on experimental body artworks, French artist Thomas Mailaender has selected old photographic negatives from the Archive of Modern Conflict (a four million strong collection of photos depicting war throughout history) and has sunburnt the images to volunteers' bodies, substituting photosensitive paper for skin, by shining a UV lamp over them. The result reveals a fleeting picture on the skin’s surface, which Mailaender photographed just moments before exposure to daylight caused them to disappear.
The result is...painful-looking. But also unexpectedly powerful, and an interesting play on ideas of body art and photography.
Explore more of Thomas' work, much of which centres upon found imagery, at his website.
