David Teplica
Frustration, Logic, and Resolution, 2008

Composite Medical Photograph; original print - 5 x 11 foot mural using archival pigments on cotton paper Nikon Cool-Pix 990 camera; Rigidly standardized full-torso peri-operative sequence.

Plastic Surgery, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Illinois, United States

his composite photograph is comprised of many standardized full-torso photographs showing a male patient’s high-definition circumferential liposuction, including “before” views at top; “preoperatively marked” at center; and “postoperative” results at bottom. The image series allows for accurate and quantifiable analysis of anatomic changes. The markings shown at center were made directly on the patient before surgery. Their color-coding is as follows: black for anatomic landmarks and boney boundaries; green contour rings that designated areas of breast formation; red for muscular volume; blue contour rings delineated areas of fatty redundancy; blue stippling showed fatty regions that were to be aspirated; and purple marks defined incision and excision locations. The patient entered into the 4 to 6 hour surgery with all the marks intact to guide the surgical process of bodily proportioning. The final result sequence was photographed 15 months post-operatively, clearly indicating the subject’s heightened torso definition. 

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