The stress of being under the surgeons knife

Lilly & Anastasia by Alma Haser

A few years ago I became aware of a project that really intrigued me. It was called Cosmic Surgery, and it was being produced by photographer Alma Haser. I ended up buying the print you see above and it's hung proudly on my wall for the past few years, often to the dismay of some friends who find it a little weird. I loved it from the moment I first saw it.

Since then Emily has been working closely with Alma to bring this project alive in book form. It's been really enjoyable to watch them work. I've witnessed days of paper being contorted into pop-ups, and more recently our studio has been bombarded with mail from cosmetic surgery companies. Emily tells me this is for research purposes only.

For the past few weeks they've had a kickstarter running, and if you've had any experience or involvement in kickstarting something, you will know it's a pretty stressful thing. There seems to be this constant battle between sharing the project and not pissing everyone you know off by bombarding the internet. Here's a short video about the project.

My work at the moment is all about studying people at work. The work I've witnessed Emily & Alma do is all encompassing. The care and attention they have put into the planning and design of the books only comes from a place of love for the work, and I don't use the word love lightly.

Here's a link to their kickstarter, if you feel inclined, please go and back it.

Here's a photo essay I've created about Emily and her work.