Week 7 ~ Eyes

~ If we couldn't dream...~

I have to admit that I rolled my eyes when I saw this week's topic. I'm not anti-eyes or anti-eyelashes in photography, it just meant that I had to think about trying something different that wasn't going to be too clichéd. I could be wrong, and this open/closed eye thing could be cliché too! I didn't want to create a doe-eyed look, or a eyelash macro, or capture my dog's eyes, or anything too sweet and pretty - I wanted something a little different.

A couple of weeks ago I spotted a blog that showcased B&W sleeping portraits. Many of the shots were quite haunting and there was one - with its eyes open/shut - that really stood out for me, so this week I tried my hand at interpreting it in my way. When I had to think of a title for the portrait, my immediate thought was "awake is the new sleep" until I realised that's also the name of a Ben Lee album - and that's a little too twee for me. That's when I stumbled upon this quote 

"If we couldn't dream, our lives wouldn't mean anything anymore" 

by George Kaiser in The Raft of the Medusa, and I thought it fitted much better with what I was trying to portray.

Many thanks to my model Ashleigh who patiently posed for this shot.