Visual Storytelling Awards 2015

DreamWorld is an ongoing photography project exploring the people and creatures who inhabit the mystical land we visit during sleep.  This "photojournalism of fantasy" results in striking, soulful, beautiful images which arrest the viewer's attention. DreamWorld began one long, sleepless night while I tossed and turned through a bout of my frequent insomnia.  As I lay there, wide awake, I had a vision of a magical person in charge of sleep and dreams.  And as I cursed her for my waking predicament, more characters came to me.  It quickly became an all-consuming passion to bring this world to life. I hand-make all the elaborate costumes and props in the DreamWorld series.  Creativity, resourcefulness and faith in myself are crucial to that work, since I rarely know how I'm going to construct something before I begin it.  I call on all my skills.  And then I improvise, often creating new techniques as I go.  But, though I work on a shoestring budget, the results are anything but cheap. DreamWorld captures the attention of those who view it, bringing astonishment and delight.  That is the real magic of the series.