Elegy

Elegy is life – its transience, its fragility and its persistence.

Here, this infinite is a deep velvet void that seems to beckon and seduce, perhaps like death itself.

With these innocent bones we are free to speculate on our own mortality without fear and with curiosity and reverence.

The bones of an animal’s remaining form mesmerized me.

They spoke to the delicate equilibrium of my own existence, to the complexity of relationship and interdependence inherent in all living creatures.

Deborah Samuel

This is what Deborah Samuel does so well. She captures the elusive; the unseen, and the inexplicable and privileges us with a glimpse of the unknown.

Contained within these images is the essence of life — its ultimate mysterious conclusion of the beauty that buries itself within.

These bones have a liquidity that makes them curve into articulated shapes like gossamer in water.

The tender gestures of skeletal fingers and toes, so minuscule and friable, that the balance between life and death becomes sublime.

"This desire to work with bird skeletons soon evolved into a great fascination with overall animal anatomy.

Samuel began to further research the animal world, satisfying a particular personal curiosity concerning their interpersonal relationships, examining how bonds were manifested.

Gothic, Darwinian, and quieting in its still reflection, the photography of Canadian artist Deborah Samuel captures the spirit of her subjects in haunting monochromatic likeness.

"The only way I can describe it is that I feel things" says the artist of her work. "Its pretty important to me that whatever I'm shooting, I capture the essence of something."

The poetic imagination of each photograph is anchored by the reality of life's fragility, transience and persistence.

A narrative told through the image of rigid bones and shells belonging to creatures who have long since vacated their pulsating flesh.

As seen in her photography, Samuel's interest in wildlife stems far beyond an animal's physical attributes; it is their emotions and the relationships they forge and nurture that holds her camera's focus."

- Kristyn Tsampiras, Filler Magazine, Canada