Hasta La Ideas

Emerging photographers take on death and tourism in a London show

Exploring the paradoxical mix of fear and seduction that travel increasingly presents, “Dead On Holiday” is a series of seven striking images depicting dead girls shot by budding photographers Tess Thackara and Andrea DiCenzo on a recent trip to Turkey.

The project underscores the mismatched emotions of exploring new places, playing off the artificiality of typical vacation photos by using anonymous models in locations that could be almost anywhere. The saturated Kodachrome-esque hues work similarly in contrast to the dark subject matter, suggesting that when removed from the familiar, a “traveler dies a small death of identity,” as Thackara explains.

While shooting the series on the tranquil island in the Sea of Marmara, Thackara and DiCenzo found that the locals weren’t at all interested in the false deaths they were creating, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in each location and truly speak to their imagined experience of the space.

Their first collaborative show, “Dead On Holiday” opens at The City Arts and Music Project, London’s multi-functional cafe, bar and gallery space in Shoreditch on 7 October 2010 and runs through 21 October 2010.