Zombies in the Graveyard

This image is part of a trio I made related to George Romero’s classic zombie movie, “Night of the Living Dead.” It is meant to be an offshoot image, not directly related to the actual movie, but pulling from its genre and themes. while visiting the graveyard and thinking about images to shoot, I thought it would be interesting to have multiple zombies of the same person, so I gave this idea a try for this picture.

This one isn’t supposed to be overly scary or threatening. I wanted the zombie to look more monotone and slightly lost or sad, and not particularly engaged towards any one target- sort of a “maybe” on what they might do when they are all alone and not pursuing their next meal. I would like to make a bigger series on that idea, actually. Showing what zombies are like in different situations and in their “off time.” What activities might they do? Would they get bored? Would some behave differently than others? But that’s a whole different can of worms.

Anyway, I desaturated the zombie to give him a more vintage, pale and deathly feeling. It didn’t look spooky enough with him in full color, and I didn’t want to desaturate the entire image either because I thought it created an interesting contrast between the pale death and the colors of the living world around him. I left the rest of the image in the colors and lighting as it was shot, but looking back I think maybe I should have upped the saturation so the contrast between the zombie and the rest of the world would be more pronounced.