Photography

A Photographic Dream Journal

publish date
September 15, 2020
project type
Photography

In this project, you will find photographic representations of my dreams.

I often think about the role of photography in either supporting or pushing back against biases. I believe empathy is endangered due to today’s politically- and technologically-driven world, and it’s important to analyze our relationships beyond biases that usually divide us. Sleep is an immediate connection to our subconscious, a territory we all occupy, and where our most honest, unhinged, emotions lie.   Using the subconscious  as a common ground, this series  uses photography to recreate my own dreams. This work explores the human condition on it’s most universal level, and safeguards notions of empathy to push back against the biases that divide us in the waking world. 
7/15/18
Tammy died one afternoon unexpectedly and unexplainably. No one knew why. Aunt Janet and Dean came over to help paint the old, broken-down house after she died.
8/17/18
I was sure my roommate, Tasha, hated me. She was so cold, until one day she was passing out love letters and I got one. We lived in an old, dark, house, which is where I found the three-page note from her, lying on my bed. I didn’t get a chance to read it before she walked in, and we weren’t close enough for me to read it in front of her. I still wonder what it might have said.
8/17/18
My friend, Quynh called me while I was stuck in a hotel with an active shooter. She wanted to make plans— she and Norman are going out somewhere for dinner. I told her Tasha, another friend, was available too. Tasha got really mad at the idea because she can’t afford to eat out.
Tasha and I walked together to the train station to go to our respective dinners and the bus stop was on the side of a random, empty road. She was dressed really nice, despite having no money to go out. Hair pulled back, curls on the sides and she wore a big wool warm coat with lipstick even though it was summer outside. She said earlier she doesn’t like when her curls blow, but she is thin enough now to still make it work.
7/13/18
I was walking with my mom and my sister, Jenna, on road with no sidewalk. We had just witnessed a triple school bus accident and a shooting. One man who was a retired cop not dressed in uniform was mocking me because I couldn’t do anything to help. He said the media is awful so I lied and told him I’m a nurse. Then we took the train to Temple and I got out but was afraid of getting hit and afraid to go home.

8/30/18

When I got out of the shower to do my makeup, I was left with one small broken mirror and glowing flourescent light. I wanted my eye-color to pop, so, despite being unable to see clearly, I put eyeliner in my eyeball to color the outsides of my irises darker. It worked like I was using the burn tool on photoshop— darkening the outer edges of my bright blue eyes made the color pop. Then I painted lines on the whites of my eyes too— instead of making the lash line more defined, I put the lash line inside my eye.

11/11/18

I was married. But there was little future in this place for me, which is when I remembered someone else, and something else I wanted to live for. I panicked, remembering how much more I want than marriage, especially with this man in this place. My actions tell me I want marriage, but my words tell me something else, and I have trouble finding balance between both. “Didn’t I tell someone just a few days ago that I don’t want to be married? I’m such a hypocrite. Now I’m married. What about the person I actually love? Now he’s out of reach. Didn’t I say you should only commit once? I need a divorce.” I was trapped either way. Trapped in a relationship I did not want to be a part of, trapped in a web of judgment if I were to leave him, and trapped in a life where I would never be able to be truthful to myself.
6/1/18
Maggie was there,
talking about running
12/10/18
Right after taking a second job, I got an email from my current employer, that required me to be at a mandatory staff event. The event was some sort of gala, something I didn’t care to attend, but I hadn’t yet told my boss about my second job, where I was supposed to be. My heart dropped to the ground, as it normally does right before I’m flooded with anxiety.
7/8/18
My friends, Vrushabh, Laura, Alex and I were in high school in a dark, weird basement with red lights and green slimy water. Dark. We are in high school and drunk, trying to hide our drinking from elders. Laura is like my friend, Mady, in high school— I’m trying to protect her. She also keeps running off for Reed, her boyfriend, which is how I end up hanging with Vrushabh. Alex doesn’t believe I drink now, and Vrushabh is the one who forgets the nights with me. I have a crush on him.
9/14/18
The images were transmitted that night and published by Vanity Fair before Joe Biden was declared incumbent President, contributing to a nationwide visual record of one of the most consequential elections in recent U.S. history.

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margo@margoreedstudio.com