Open to the possibility of a world where ghosts wander around rooms only offering a glimpse into what their lives may have been and where walls truly do talk. Michelle's work is either a direct response or an illustration of her Costa Rican upbringing. Growing up, there was never a shortage of "true" ghost stories, miracles, exorcisms and near-death experiences. She grew up believing in these stories and in many ways a part of her still believes in them. Having collected so many experiences from her family that she finds herself approaching the camera and subjects, no matter where, with that same hint of superstition, mystery, and imagination that her family always filled her with. Magical realism is often used to describe Latin American fiction, but she uses it to describe what it felt like to grow up in a family where the dead were just as present as the living.
ITS Contest Application year: 2011
Application area: Photo
Collection shortlisted as a Finalist
