These three shoots were all taken in different locations and on different days but have been grouped together in order to talk about them as a section of the collective of nightmares which forms the secondary section to the project.
The idea behind these dark images is that they punctuate the tranquility of daydream with a fearful reality that's distorted by dream.
For the first shoot I went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow and was drawn to the red glow they had used to light the front of the building. Having looked all around the building I decided it was the best place to shoot. I was aiming for a claw shadow projected onto the bed. However, this didn't work and so I tried a 'welcome to hell' aesthetic which seemed to be the best end result. The spiral is achieved by attaching a piece of red cellophane to a head-torch and moving it around in circular movements whilst walking towards the camera - kindly orchestrated by my Dad.
Final Image
The second shoot was a location I had checked out whilst I was at the gallery but there were loads of people skating (despite the pitch blackness) so I abandoned ship and noted it down as a place to return to. I decided that early morning would be the best time to get the Kelvingrove Skatepark deserted so I set my alarm for 04:10 and was there for 5am! I decided that I wanted to use some props for this shoot and thought that a syringe filled with a coloured liquid would add a sense of fear to the image (blackcurrant squash did the job). The result is an image which aims to instil an uneasiness in the viewer.
Process Shots
Final Image
The last shoot I'm going to talk about today is the motorway bridge at the Raith Interchange. This was one of my quickest and easiest shoots due to the fact I was able to park almost directly where I was shooting and also because I had planned, before hand, what I wanted to include in the image. I'm sure I gave some drivers a bit of a shock on their way home from work! I arrived in daylight in order to set up the shot and then waited patiently for darkness to fall and set the shutter to 15secs in order to capture myself in the bed and out of it in the same image.
Process Shots
Final Image