As Haruki Murakami said, “Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it”, we realize the life, like everything else, is transient. We are born for a purpose, and the moment that purpose is served, we shall be eternally asleep in the lap of death. It is true that the very thought of death makes us lose whatever sanity we are left with, but it is also true that death engulfs you so that you are born again, in a new world, with a new life. The process is a continuous one and it is only when we are fighting for our last few breaths do we realize the true value of life.
Innovation has been taken to new heights and each day we do come across some off-center and avant-garde things and concepts which get us thinking about life and the whole meaning of it. With the vast popularity of social media all across the globe, there are people who are using it for causes like showcasing their pouts with multiple hashtags, and then there are people like Stephanie Leigh, who took to Instagram eight years ago to spread a very strong message.
This lady started a bizarre photo shoot session in which she posed dead in front of various famous tourist destinations like the Buckingham Palace, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, and the San Diego Zoo and of course, she has not missed the Notre Dame after the tragedy occurred there. Going through her pictures on Instagram will initially give you a chill in your spine, seeing her posing dead, and some may even question the cause of this absurdity. But the moment you delve deeper into this, you will be surprised to see the layers of strong meaning attached to the pictures. Stephanie Leigh, through these photos, tries to bring home the transience of life. The fact that she is posing dead in front of the most sought after tourist destinations signifies the fact that our life is indeed much more beautiful than we imagine it to be. It gives us the courage to face all the difficulties and stand up against all odds and teaches us to face the upheavals that life has to offer. Death is an inextricable part of life and it is only through death we realize the transience of life.
Stephanie Leigh through this photographic expedition of hers uses art as a medium to express the value of life. She is trying to leave a mark and we must say that she is doing her job too well. Leigh has also revealed that despite posing dead in numerous places, she has only been asked in five destinations if she was okay. We wonder what happened to people’s humanity in the other places, or maybe they just thought all of it was too weird and chose to stay out of it.
The beauty of this whole thing is that the photo shoot was never planned. It has always been a spur of the moment decision and however crazy Leigh may come across as an artist to the whole world, we cannot help but admire her thoughts and spontaneity.
