Dreams: Metaphor for the Making of Art?

With no surprise, my entire train journey from Ascot (my home town) to London tends to be very much phone related- either tweeting, emailing or texting...I usually end up depleting over a quarter of my Iphone battery in this time alone with many hours ahead to fuel.

With 10 minutes to spare before reaching Waterloo, I read a tweet from the National Gallery regarding a lunchtime talk focusing on dreams and visions in art. This talk acted as an introduction and taster of what is to come when a new exhibition opens this week in association with 'Seduced by Art'. For more information on this exhibition please click here.

 

Not only do I love art and painting on both a personal and professional level; the subject matter of this talk strongly related to the very reason why I began this blog. Art and photography attain the power to be as ambiguous yet as symbolically rich as desired- linking into this fantasy, dreamlike realm which can be so apparent in visual imagery- especially fashion.

In addition to confirming and expanding the knowledge I already have in this subject; I also learnt about Baroque art and the divine powers associated with the dream state which was fascinating. Before we reached the era of scientific evidence supporting dream studies (Sigmund Freud, REM sleep etc), dreams were looked upon as privileged, glorified messages; most often relating to messages from God.

Although this was all very interesting art history, what really inspired me and appeared so relevant to my position as a fashion photographer is the concept of dreams themselves. Dreams attempt to explain the surreal, yet at the same time are designed to be interpreted in a subjective manner; similar to the dream itself. They also leave us with the big question, what really is reality?

Contemporary fashion photography could arguably be more about hyper real fantasy than dreams; determined through both the content within the frame and the ever increasing techniques of post production. I personally believe that one of the key attributes and foundation of conveying a sense of a dream, vision or fantasy relates to the 'space of otherness' - something which can never fully be in reality, often appearing to be a fully conceptual construction.

On this note, I will leave you with a beautiful image by Tim Walker; unquestionably inspired by his personal depictions of the dream realm, inspired by childlike fantasy and unconventional conceptual visions. Having visited an exhibition at Somerset house focusing on Tim Walker's work, this quote seemed particularly fitting:

'The editorial spreads of a modern fashion magazine allow the photographer to construct fictive worlds, which unfold, page after page, like series of stills from unrealised films'.