A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown
Dreams take us to totally different and mind-blowing realms but sometimes, the shift from waking life to sleep can be a strange and surreal experience in itself. This state is most likely what inspired Barcelona-based photographer Andrea Torres Balaguer to put together an aptly-named series called "Hypnagogia."
Andrea's monochromatic series borrows its name and concept from the term for the transition between wakefulness and sleep, which, interestingly, has been found to be the catalyst for a number of mental phenomena including lucid dreaming, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. This turns out to be not so surprising, as iGnant has found that she draws inspiration from surrealism, the subconscious, and the mysterious, and takes her cues from the "little memories that we remember from dreams."
Browsing through "Hypnagogia" brought me to this floaty world between dreams and reality, where my mind seems to have made the choice to traverse this dimension in black and white (on an interesting side note, it's believed that roughly one person out of eight dreams exclusively in monochrome). The term hypnagogia refers to a transition, and it seems to me that Andrea wanted viewers to experience just that; to see scenes that are not quite surreal yet, but getting there. While the imagery of the whole set is still mainly rooted to ordinary scenes and stories, I find that there are subtle details that, following the theme and concept, can make one wonder if it's a dream or otherwise.
I found myself wondering, too: Why in black and white, though? Looking through her other sets, Andrea has been able to tell dreamlike visual stories effectively in color, so why the choice to strip her photos of color for this series?
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This may be pure conjecture, but I'd like to think she was making a wise use of black and white photography's ability to induce a certain drama in the images. Then, there's also the fact that the absence of color doesn't distract the viewer and allows the composition to stand out. Put these qualities together with her penchant for surrealism and you get a simple yet visually poignant series that blurs the line between what's real and what's imaginary.
Visit Andrea Torres Balaguer's website and Facebook Page to see more of her beautifully surreal photography.
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