Dreamspeak

For my series, Dreamspeak I want to convey the overwhelming emotions I experience in dreams. I often wake up harboring these emotions and carry them throughout my day. These emotions cover a wide spectrum from overwhelming anger to despairing sadness. 

            For this series, I wanted to convey these overpowering emotions by using strong sources of colored light, creating dream like scenes that are hazy and ambiguous. I also used strong, exaggerated gestures and poses to convey different emotions and to give the images an otherworldly feel. Overall, I wanted the images to have a sense of unsteadiness, helplessness and desperation. I chose red over other colors to convey a sense of urgency. I also felt red and its connection to passion accurately described my dream state with its flux of strong emotions and experiences.

             All of the images are shot on 35mm color film and are developed with the C-41 process. What I enjoy most about working with film is the element of chance. I felt an element of chance was essential for this series in order for the images to look surreal and dream like. Most of the images have distorted color due to processing methods as well as the red light. Every distortion adds depth to the image, giving it a life of its own, something more tangible than working with digital methods.

            I chose to do self-portrait for this series because I wanted to use my body to reenact the things happening in my dreams. By placing myself in front of the camera I allowed myself to be vulnerable and open my mind to confront my dream space and deal with the emotions and events present. Overall, allowing me to gain a new perspective on how I dream and why and communicate my experiences with others.