Polaroid Dreams

Did that happen? Did I dream it or see it in a film?

In this portfolio I've tried to create images which are intriguing enough to engage a viewer's imagination and encourage them to create their own narrative. This has resulted in a body of work consisting of candid shots, often of people with indeterminate intent, which has given the images an enigmatic quality.

Other images are of small isolated figures in the cityscape and landscape whose body language suggests being lost in thought. I want these images of small figures in a larger frame to suggest the issue of momentarily being in touch with a world bigger than ourselves.

The images are all digital and I've used several visual devices such as atmospheric lighting and unusual colour casts to make them more visually intriguing and this has given the images a moody and sometimes a strange dream-like quality. A balloon floating, a hot summer's day, a shadow on the wall... These small details can trigger some fragment of memory, not entirely recalled and create a feeling of deja vu. Many of the images have a noir cinematic style and look like film stills.

I've decided to use a polaroid frame, firstly because I like the artiness and quirkiness of Polaroids, but also because the images are an eclectic mix and though they are connected through the narrative theme I also want the body of work to have a visual identity.