Rocio De Alba

Conceptual Documentary Photographer

In this developing series, I apply microscopic photography and multimedia principles to visually chronicle my journey towards “radical acceptance of death.” Enlisting scientific and academic approaches, I embark on this cathartic endeavor by adopting ideologies from renowned theologians, philosophers, and contemporary artists actively pursuing healthy dialogues that attempt to shift society’s adverse perceptions of death.

In this quest I found peace by discovering that although end of life is inevitable, multiple components of my body are slowly dying the longer I live! This revelation commenced a healing process that further arouse my intrigue with self-portraiture. Unlike my previous projects however, in this series, I combine engaging and inviting colors with brazen images of my naked body – often in states of extreme grotesque - to document the physical transition organically produced by the aging process. Working against the male-dominant history of idealized nude portraits of women, these images denounce marginalized dialogues about body shame and death.

To further conceptualize notions of ageing, all images are printed on digital transfer film I mount onto a pork gelatin marble fresco substrate that is embedded on top of Medex wood panels. The founders of this fresco add a food preservative called Agar-Agar that prevents the gelatin from losing texture or mold, due to its tendency to expire. I found this technique, and the imperfections organically created by the entire transfer process, enriches my objective regarding our obsession to preserve that which would otherwise perish.