This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection.
Ludovic Burel’s book Page_Sucker_Numero_Un_Skull.JPG is a collection of pictures of skulls. From humorous pictures like skulls on socks and action figures to scientific photographs, this book shows every kind of skull imaginable. Although there is no text written by the author, the pages that really stand out are about the killing fields of Cambodia and destroyed villages in Palestine. Juxtaposed with the lighthearted pictures of keychains and decals, these tragedies stand out all the more. Although there is no explanation from the author, the message is clear. 
Much of Ludovic Burel’s work deals with photographs he finds, often of anonymous subjects on the web. Although he does give citations in the back of the book, it reads much as though one had performed a google image search, offering up a huge collection of photos that are related but without much initial context. The title of the book, “page sucker” is the name of a website extractor software which Burel uses to compile 208 images of skulls collected online via a single keyword (‘Skull’). Burel presents the images as he found them, with little or no modification, as though it was an archeology project of the web. 
Page sucker_numero un_skull.jpg / Ludovic Burel. Paris : tux-tv.net, 2002 is available in the Fine Arts collection. Available at Widener Library is another of Burel’s works Archives du biopouvoir : Marseille, 18e-20e siècles / présentées par Philippe Artières & Ludovic Burel.
Thanks to Emma Clement, Santo Domingo Library Assistant, for contributing this post.