Insomnia – a Photo Project by @matthewpoburyny

Opening up about new experiences with film is something we can relate to here in the community. We are all walking different paths down in our lives and in our own little ways, we have personal stories to tell. With his new photo project, @matthewpoburyny shares his personal feelings with the help of film photography.

Vulnerable and honest, Matthew bares his feelings and emotions by taking photographs. Even at times of uncertainty, he finds comfort in the fact that he can express what he's feeling with images that may or may not be understood by everyone. This is his photo story.

Like a fizzling static that comes from rubbing tired eyes one too many times, the grain on this underexposed roll of film correctly communicated that visual sensation to me. I was back home for a week of vacation during a very turbulent moment in my life just a few months ago. Struggling with personal repercussions from the pandemic, I found myself not to be sleeping anymore.

I felt the chaos of the world spilling into my personal life as each watertight bulkhead failed to stop the breach in my hull. It was then along old footpaths of my youth I did find some time to be at peace. So knowing full well that I was going to be taking a chance of maybe walking away with no discernible images, I pointed the lens directly into the dying [light] and clicked away at the shadows.

When I got the scans back from the lab, I immediately correlated the images and my sleepless nights spent staring through specks of dust crackling in the air waiting for morning. A stark land of shades and sand appeared before me just as I had seen the growing shadows in the corner of my room move from moonlight to sunrise many times before.

The silhouetted shapes of smokestacks, industrial buildings, and other structures blended seamlessly into the film's grey canvas. It was otherworldly and intimately personal that I knew I had to do something unique with the photos. A purely organic experience that resulted in creating something significant for myself that would otherwise not exist. To summarize, I will leave you with a poem inspired by my insomnia to pair with the images you see before you.”

We would like to thank Matthew for sharing his story with us. Head over to his Lomohome to see more of his work.

written by cheeo on 2021-01-05 #people #black-and-white #monochrome #bnw #insomnia #earl-grey #matthewpoburyny