Surrealist Nightmares

My first project for the class of Visual Productions II 2018. This compilation is based on nightmares I have had as they act as my inspiration. It is one of the first real photography projects I have undertaken so far. Still, I find myself rather happy with the result. The collection incorporates 5 normal photos and a single edited photomontage.

Bland Cereal

This photo was based on one of the properties of lucid dreams: the lack of control. I am sure that most people that have had a lucid dream will recognize that a common aspect in most of them is how while you are aware you are dreaming, your movement is extremely sluggish and your general mental capacities are slowed to a crawl. This photo is based on a nightmare I had in which I was witnessing water pouring but in slow motion and while I was unable to move correctly.

Sleight of Hand

In this photo, I wanted to illustrate the deception present in dreams and nightmares. While they appear real at the moment they happen, as soon as you wake up, you often laugh at how ridiculous they turn out to be. To manifest this point, I used a deck of cards and long exposure to create an illusion of motion. The process took a decent amount of time as it was rather more complex than I expected. I was assisted by my sister in the creation of this photo and coordinating two individuals was an element I had forgotten to prepare for.

Scorpion Headed

Have you ever had a nightmare in which you are pursued by a creature or a monster? I certainly have. The scorpion used in this photo is an actual one that was preserved in glass. It is a souvenir a friend from elementary school gave me when he returned from Madagascar. While no horror props maker would ever hire me, I think the message of monster and entities haunting our sleep is still present.

Light in the Dark

While it is slightly hard to see, this photo displays me holding a small light in a dark room. This one was based on a nightmare in which I was surrounded in darkness with only a small oil lantern to guide me. This one is rather strange as I am not exactly scared of the dark. But as I developed the idea, I remembered: you should not be afraid of the dark, but of what is hiding in it.

Refraction

This photo was more of an experiment than an idea based on a nightmare. I wished to play around with camera angles and positioning. Surprisingly, this small test turned out to be rather interesting with a decent result that fits within the theme. If anything, I guess it is a good sign of how the unpredictable is not always terrible.

All You Have To Do Is Ask

My photomontage was my favorite result from this project. With a little bit of editing and weird disguises, I managed to recreate an idea I held for a long while. I imagined this scene in which a person, at the end of their rope and unable to cope with the real world is confronted by their unconscious mind. This entity, taking the form of a monster, offer to take the reign from the person. All they have to do is ask. Using a plague doctor mask that was given to me from my sister that had just returned from Venice, I took two different photos in which I wore the two different outfits present in the frame. With a little touch-up, the montage came out looking rather mesmerizing.