Photographer finds stellar patterns in father’s ashes
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Gabriela Reyes Fuchs, a Mexican photographer, began examining the cremated remains of her father in 2012 while working at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Fuchs looked at the ashes under a microscope hoping to find some comfort after his death. Instead of a grey, opaque image as scientists at UNAM expected, she discovered formations resembling nebulas and distant galaxies, with bright tones of orange, red, yellow and blue against a dark background.
Fuchs realized the images visually supported the scientific idea that humans are made of the same material as stars, a concept popularized by Carl Sagan and originally suggested by Harlow Shapley. This discovery changed her understanding of life, death, and the universe, and inspired her art installation, Dead Soon, which she exhibited in cultural centers across Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
Building on this work, Fuchs founded Innerstela, a service where people send small amounts of a loved one’s ashes to receive a photograph of the microscopic patterns within. She currently charges $1600 plus taxes for each image, but is seeking funding to offer the service to those who cannot afford it. Fuchs hopes to eventually expand the project to assist communities dealing with traumatic loss, like those affected by war or missing persons.
