Origins & Reconstructions - Origins - Faces from Deep Time

Thousands of years separate us from the people shown in this series. And yet that distance seems to fall away the moment their eyes meet ours. Photographed from Elisabeth Daynès's prehistoric reconstructions (Daynes's website), these portraits ask a simple, slightly unsettling question: how close are we, really, to the people who lived before history began?
Past the archaeological evidence and the scientific method behind each face, what I am after is presence: a gaze, a posture, the texture of skin, the hint of a personality.
What looks back is not an anonymous ancestor but an individual. Caught between fact and imagination, these faces remind us that prehistory was not populated by concepts or species, but by human beings whose fears, lives and hopes may not have been so different from ours. 

Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis reconstruction, sits against a dark background, her long arms, reddish body hair and direct gaze rendered in a studio portrait.
Close three-quarter portrait of an Australopithecus reconstruction, its reddish hair and deeply textured face emerging from a dark studio background.
Two Australopithecus reconstructions appear together in a dark studio portrait, one leaning toward the camera while the other looks beyond the frame.
Full-length portrait of a shaggy, dark-haired prehistoric hominin reconstruction standing in three-quarter view against a shadowed background.
Rim-lit profile of a Homo georgicus reconstruction with bristling reddish hair and parted lips, sharply outlined against deep black.
A Homo georgicus reconstruction twists with one arm raised in a dynamic, side-lit studio portrait set against a dark background.
Frontal bust portrait of a dark-skinned prehistoric human reconstruction with bare shoulders, parted lips and an alert gaze emerging from shadow.
A seated prehistoric human reconstruction studies a large animal bone in a low-key studio portrait linking anatomy, material culture and deep time.
Frontal portrait of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal reconstruction, with reddish hair, beard and hide clothing, softly lit against darkness.
Tight close-up of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal reconstruction looking beyond the frame, with textured skin, reddish beard and hide clothing in shadow.
Full-length portrait of a female Neanderthal reconstruction standing in woven and hide clothing, her direct gaze emerging from a dark studio background.
Three-quarter studio portrait of a Homo erectus reconstruction, with reddish hair, heavy brow and broad shoulders emerging from darkness.
Side-lit profile of the Sangiran Homo erectus reconstruction, its brow, cheek and jaw sharply outlined against a black background.
Close frontal portrait of a prehistoric human reconstruction with light brown hair and beard, glancing beyond the frame against deep black.
Frontal portrait of a dark-skinned prehistoric woman reconstruction wearing fur, shell ornaments and a braided hairstyle against a dark background.
An elderly prehistoric human reconstruction sits holding a long staff, wrapped in fur and hide, his direct gaze illuminated against deep shadow.
A child reconstruction receives dotted face paint from an adult hand, combining intimate gesture, prehistoric adornment and studio portraiture.
A prehistoric woman reconstruction in elaborate fur and shell clothing points beyond the frame, isolated in a dramatically lit studio scene.
A group of Australopithecus reconstructions stands in darkness, arranged across generations around a solitary figure in the foreground.
A Neanderthal reconstruction faces the camera in hide clothing, with a diverse group of prehistoric hominins receding into the shadows behind him.
A Homo sapiens reconstruction stands before a mixed group of prehistoric humans, his calm gaze and reddish clothing emerging from darkness.
Empty body moulds used to create prehistoric reconstructions are grouped like hollow figures, revealing the sculptural process behind imagined bodies.
A prehistoric hominin reconstruction stands on a studio platform among softboxes, light stands and cables, exposing the photographic construction of deep time.
Seated portrait of a Neanderthal child reconstruction, with reddish hair, freckles and a quiet gaze against a neutral studio background.
Frontal portrait of a Mesolithic Homo sapiens woman reconstruction wearing a shell pendant, photographed with documentary clarity against a pale background.
Close portrait of the Cap Blanc Homo sapiens reconstruction wearing an intricate shell headdress and fibre necklace against a warm neutral background.
Close three-quarter portrait of the Chancelade Homo sapiens reconstruction, an older man with weathered features, beard and fur clothing.
Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis reconstruction, sits wearing glasses beside a Cro-Magnon skull in a playful studio juxtaposition of deep time and modern vision.
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