Last Sigh/t: A Selection of Optograms from the Private Collection of Willia A. Abbotts

 

The private collection of Willia A. Abbotts contains over 300 optograms.

These retinal images—retrieved by a complex optochemical process that fixes the photosensitive pigment (rhodopsin) found in the rods of the retina—capture the last image seen before death.

Most of these optograms are believed to have been extracted at St. Albans County morgue during the first decade of the twentieth century.

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yspizirri

Yanina Spizzirri is a Los Angeles based artist and experimental prose editor at minor literature[s].

About the banner image: From The diseases of the genital organs of domestic animals.