Thomas Mailaender: “Illustrated People” – 23 Original Negatives, Powerful UV Lamp and Painful-Looking Skin-Based Photos

Thomas Mailaender (born 1979) is a French multimedia artist living and working between Paris and Marseille. Known for his use of a wide range of techniques including ceramic, photography, collage and installation, he employs diverse materials, often re-appropriating images from the internet or his own huge archive.

France – 

“Illustrated People” is the translation into book form of a performance by Thomas Mailaender. He applied to the skin of models 23 original negatives selected from the Archive of Modern Conflict’s collection before projecting a powerful UV lamp over them, thus revealing a fleeting image on the skin’s surface. Maileander then photographed each of his models before the sun made the image disappear. The book comprises the resulting shots combined with a series of photographic documents found in AMC’s collection.



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“Another one is wit, charm, and artfulness of Photography feature – Thomas Mailaender, made in collaboration with the Archive of Modern Conflict and RVB Books, where he applied powerful UV red lamp to the human skin and developed negatives on it.” – Manik Katyal

Thomas Mailaender’s ‘Illustrated People’ was selected as one of the ‘Most Interesting Photobook of 2014‘ by Manik Katyal.

 

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