Gold 2014 / Book / Fine Art

Dream Sequence - The Beauty of Sublime

  • Photographer
    Madame Peripetie
  • Prizes
    Gold in Book (Series Only)/Fine Art

Dream sequence oscillates around the portraiture of unconventional fictional figures seen "at the crossroads between fashion, photography, performance and art" (Sharon D. Lloyd). In doing so, the main inspiration has evolved from the consideration of surrealism and film, specifically referencing Alfred Hitchcock's - “Spellbound” dream scenes; the artificiality and hyper-realism of Hiroshi Sugimoto's wax sculptures; and Marina Abramovic's exploration of the limits of the body while considering the philosophical concept of the beautiful and sublime. All the protagonists were shot in-camera with minimal (that is, only essential) retouching involved. As part of this in camera process, body painting, prosthetics, wigs, unusual 3D make-up techniques as well as real flowers were used in order to enhance and distort the bodies of the models. The book is addressed to anyone who is interested in the topic of character design (both in fashion and performativity), make-up / hair design, body hybridisation, aesthetics, and the philosophical approach to beauty and sublime within photography as a "documentation tool", as well as a record of the extensive creative process. Part of the series won the seltmann+söhne Advertising Award in Germany, the Double Gold at PX3 in Paris, and recently it received an honourable mention at the International Photography Awards in NY.