Photographer Research - Nicolas Bruno

Nicolas Bruno is a photographer from Northport, New York. He suffers from a condition called sleep paralysis, in which you stuck in a half awake, half asleep state, meaning you can see your real surroundings, but you also see things that are part of your imagination like you would in a dream. He has been suffering from the condition since he was 15 years old, and he says that it took a huge toll on his mental health during his sixteenth year. Now, however, he says that he manages to keep himself sane, and uses what experiences during sleep paralysis as an inspiration for his photographs, which contain surreal imagery that mixes the real world with hallucination-like elements.

This image is a typical image by Nicolas Bruno, as it bears many traits of his work. The image is exactly square, which is different to the typical rectangular shape and 3:2 aspect ratio of most photographs. It also bears themes and visual tropes that Bruno uses a lot throughout his work. The man in the picture is wearing a suit and has a blindfold on, which is imagery that appears frequently throughout his work. The blindfold could suggest him being not in control of what happens to him during his sleep paralysis, as you can't control what you can't see happening. The image shows the man in a blindfold sitting on a chair in front of a table in the middle of what appears to be a swamp. A flaming chair is seen above the table, in mid air as if it has been thrown at him. The chair could represent chaos, as it is in mid air and on fire. The chair I would say specifically represents the chaos you experience during sleep paralysis. The location used in this image I feel is also significant. The natural location they used to shoot and the fact they used objects like table and chairs creates connotations of him being out of his depth when he is experiencing sleep paralysis.

This image bears some similarities to the other image, being taken in a natural location with elements of civilization incorporated into the image. It has also uses the square aspect ratio that is typical of Bruno's work. The image shows a man in a suit, who is tied to a chair and has a bag over his head, running away from other men in suits who are chasing him. This image is far less bright than the previous image, as the colours appear to have been muted, giving the image a very bleak atmosphere. The fact he is tied to the chair suggests that he is trapped in this half dream. half awake state, but as he is running while attached to it, which suggests he is trying to escape from being in this state. The people who are chasing him could be interpreted as a visual representation of his sleep paralysis, which he is trying to escape.

This image is slightly different in composition to the other images by Bruno. This lacks the running imagery of the suit. The image shows the surface of a lake with three wooden ladders emerging from it. On the middle ladder  there is a man who is climbing it and emerging from the water. His grip on the ladder rungs is loose, suggesting his grip on reality is loose, as he is in his state of sleep paralysis, in which he experiences warped reality. There is also some mist on the surface of the water. This mist creates a sense of mystery, in this case regarding what the ladders are there for and why the man is climbing up one and emerging from the lake. Like the other images taken by Bruno, it was taken in a forest. I think he choose to photograph in these natural locations as they represent wildness and being at the will of nature, which links to his condition in which he is at the will of his mind, trapped in a dream like state and unable to escape.

This is another image that is completely differently composed. This one contains far less than the previous images, being taken from a very far away perspective. The image simply shows a big hill with a figure wearing a cape at the top. It looks as if it was taken at dawn or dusk, and the location was very foggy and overcast when the picture was taken. The top is mostly flat and plain, apart from some trees and there is a silhouetted figure wearing a cape at the top of it. The fog has connotations of mystery, which is in the image perhaps to represent Bruno's confusion as to what this scene means during his dream sequence. Also, there are lots of very muted colours in this image, which have connotations of despair and death, creating a very dark mood for this image. The image has been taken from a very long shot perspective from the subject, which makes it very impersonal and withdraws the audience from that person, as we are trying to figure out who they are and what they mean instead of understanding their meaning and who they are.

Nicolas Bruno has influenced my work as I want to capture the colour palettes and dark moods and atmospheres that he captures in his images. I also like his use of lots of different shot types and perspectives, which is something I would like to incorporate in my shoots.