A Long History Of Dark Sleep

Diane Fenster

2020 - 2021

A Long History Of Dark Sleep:

Anxiety and insomnia self-portraits photographed during the pandemic of COVID-19

In this time of COVID-19, I sleep alone but fear is my lover. We embrace fretfully and stare at the ceiling. At this late hour, there is no one to call, all the lines are dead and the buses have stopped running. The camera comes to bed with me and a flashlight is my light source. This is my chance to record anxiety, photograph the noir that surrounds me, and come face to face with my potential demise. Or perhaps I’ll find some truth and maybe even beauty in the dead of night.

I have never liked being photographed. A series based on self-portraits could not have happened until this moment in time. Coming face to face with potential death carried on the breeze by an invisible agent has the power to propel me to self-examination in spite of distress. My aim is fretful, the focus unsteady. It’s all about chance, isn’t it, what the lens captures, who gets the virus.

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