Photographer Kalliope Amorphous has created this beautifully haunting series she calls Resurrecting Ophelia. As the title suggests, the inspiration for this series comes from her affinity for Ophelia’s character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Using various surfaces such as glass, acrylics and textiles, Kalliope gives us an unbelievably interesting way to experience a timeless classic.
“Resurrecting Ophelia is a series of conceptual self-portraits,” she explains. “I like to think of these images as semiotic dream-scapes, which offer more questions than answers. My visual interpretation of Ophelia is one of the confrontational ghost, the alienated soul and the avenging siren song. I wanted to give strength and voice to her characters perceived madness and dispossession. For me, she is both the demanding and the contemplative ghost.
“On another level, I am also playing with the idea of water as both womb and tomb. That is, the element of water as it relates to birth, death and regression. I am ultimately working through personal ideas of isolation and alienation in these images.
“These photographs were made with available light and without major post processing or digital effects added. All of the effects in this series were created in-camera using various surfaces.”
