Ruven Afanador's Morbid Academia

As one of the leading photographers working in celebrity and fashion photography, Ruven Afandor infuses his Evolution of the Species series for Elle Italia with a morbid academic beauty.

He places beauty and fashion directly into a world far removed from the superficiality of pretty aesthetics. I find that the skeletons in these photographs wear more expression than the models, almost mocking them. And what I love most is that the monochromatic nature of these photographs mirrors the yellowed dusty pages of old anatomical texts. Delightful.