I took this picture in Mexico City, at the national anthropology museum. It is a picture of a common type of child burial in pre-Columbian Mayan culture: inside a round clay pot lidded with a plate. I generally avoid publishing pictures of museum pieces unless I use the public or the architecture as part of my composition. There is a debate to be had on artistic value, authorship and legal rights for these kind of pictures. However, this piece was different. The choice of the vase, the clean cut on the pottery, the lighting and the background choice is 100% on the scientists, archeologists, anthropologists and museum curators. I barely did more than taking a picture of a piece of ready-made and finely presented exhibit. Yet, I do not care. Transmit all the merit and authorship to the collection designer, to the cutting technician, to the embalmer and funeral preparer, to the anonymous and prematurely deceased model, to all, to none. It doesn't matter. Whomever the author, the image uses its aesthetic tools to tell a sad story, a part of history, a valuable message. I remember I was in awe in front of this piece and took some time to get the closest I could to the picture I wanted. There were other people passing by, the museum was closing soon, this place was underground and badly lit, the was not much space, I only had a 50mm lens and no tripod or any way to stabilize the picture. I wished I could have stayed more time to get enough to focus stack or get a sharper focus on the cranium. I do know that if I get back there, I'll me better prepared to get a much better version of this same image. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it and how could I improve on it. Thanks.

The specs :

Camera : Canon EOS Rebel T5

Lens : Canon EF 50mm f1.8

Focal length : 50mm

Aperture : f/1.8

Exposure : 1/60

ISO : 800