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Gold 2020 People / Self-Portrait

A Long History of Dark Sleep: Anxiety and Insomnia Self-Portraits During The Pandemic of Covid-19

  • Photographer
    Diane Fenster
  • Prize
    Gold in People / Self-Portrait

In this time of Covid-19, I sleep alone but fear is my lover. We embrace fretfully and stare at the ceiling. This is my chance to record anxiety, to photograph the noir that surrounds me and find some truth and perhaps beauty in the dead of night. The camera comes to bed with me and a flashlight is my light-source. Coming face to face with potential death carried on the breeze by an invisible agent has the power to propel me to self-examination in spite of distress. My aim is fretful, the focus unsteady. It's all about chance, isn't it, what the lens captures, who gets the virus.

Self-taught artist working with photography and photo-montage. My art has been called an important voice in the development of a true digital aesthetic. I view myself as an alchemist, using digital, alternative process, and traditional photographic tools to delve into fundamental human issues. My work is literary and emotional, full of symbolism and multiple layers of meaning. My images have appeared in numerous publications on photography and digital art. I've been a guest lecturer at many seminars and my work is included in museum, corporate, and private collections.