Alex Van Gelder: Line of Inquiry August 31, 2012

Van Gelder's most recent photographic series is a meditation on death, disintegration, and decay. In subtly toned platinum prints, he takes as his subject matter glass-printed sepulchral portraits found on gravestones, mausoleums, and family tombs, depicting those now buried below. The original images, exposed to the elements, have distorted with time; their surfaces are pocked and cracked, the once-crisp features blurred as apparitions.