Insomnia or When Sleep Comes, I’ll Be Awake
Handmade Photobook (Japanese Binding)
Enlarged Darkroom Photography
Dimensions: 8x10in
2022
When Sleep Comes, I’ll Be Awake is a handmade photobook born from an intense experiment in sleep deprivation, designed to explore the disorienting effects of altered consciousness without the use of substances, akin to the experiences Aldous Huxley documented in his studies of the mind. Over the course of three sleepless days, I captured the fragmented and surreal mental and physical strain of insomnia, using slow-shutter techniques and abstract photography to embody the disconnection between perception and reality.
This project presents a visual meditation on the heightened sensitivity and confusion that occurs when the mind is deprived of rest. Handbound using Japanese binding and developed in the darkroom, the photographs reflect the blurred boundaries between clarity and delirium. Each image is an attempt to document fleeting moments of altered perception, suspended between the conscious and the hallucinated. The creative process itself mirrors the tension of struggling to hold onto a fleeting, intangible experience.
In addition to the photographs, the book features handwritten notes, experimental drawings, and marks on discarded photogram paper — tactile elements that evoke the fractured thoughts and sensations of sleeplessness. These materials invite the viewer not only to engage with the visual content but also to interact with the physicality of the work, reflecting the mental effort required to endure exhaustion.
When Sleep Comes, I’ll Be Awake serves as an exploration of the fragility of the mind, altered perception, and the delicate space between wakefulness and unconsciousness. The project speaks to the disorienting and often overwhelming experience of pushing the mind to its limits, offering a visual representation of the world that shifts and fades before one's eyes, much like the mind itself when deprived of rest.
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