Klaus Elle’s photography is reminiscent of the heyday of post-mortem and spirit photography in the Victorian era. Wispy, ghostly figures half-apparate into desolate spaces to communicate their suffering and their wisdom. They’re not threatening, but their melancholy is tangible. When I’ve been in spaces like these – abandoned, forlorn human habitations – I feel these grasping hands, these limp legs, these keening faces. This is like seeing behind the veil of my tight chest and panicked breath; seeing who’s there and understanding that their presence isn’t a threat to my soul. To me, it holds more of the reverence of death that used to be a part of Western cultures than it does the contemporary fear, decay and horror that we associate with death. Check out a gallery of Elle’s work below…
