Monster

We all remember after our parents tucked us at night and turned off the light, how we hid under the covers, worrying that the monster hiding under our bed would come out to get us while we slept. Some of us still feel those fears in adulthood after watching the many horror films that like to play to those fears. There are the extremely commons fears children have such as a monster hiding in the closet, under the bed, or outside the window.  As I child I remember having these common fears as well as being scared to sleep in our guest room because the door to the attic was in that room and I was positive a monster lived up there. There were many times too that I would sprint up the stairs and into my bed if I was the only person left downstairs on my way to my room. In this case I didn’t have a clear reason for being afraid but I had an irrational fear that something was chasing me. Others develop other fears as they get older, usually based on what they hear from their peers or from movies and television shows. Many older children develop a fear of certain dolls as well as clowns despite liking them in their earlier years.

My work currently is dealing with a fine line between fear and curiosity in how I as the subject react with the light. In order to figure out how far I can push and then hold back creating feelings of fear in my images. I need to think about the different fears that children have whether they are very common or not completely common.

Quotes:                               

“We are born with certain inherent and instinctual fears, such as fear of the dark, fear of lucking danger, and fear of being eaten. As we grow older, these fears lose their intensity, and are slowly shuffled away in our Unconscious.” – Joshua Hoffine

“Horror tells us that our belief in security is delusional, and that monsters are all around us.” – Joshua Hoffine

Biblography:  

Childhood Nightmares and Fears Photography – Joshua Hoffine." Ansblog - Answer to Your Search on Web - Answer Blog. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://ansblog.com/2010/04/childhood-nightmares-and-fears-photography-joshua-hoffine/>.

Although it is a small article, this provided me with much information that led me to find the photographer Joshua Hoffine. His work gave me much insight into how I could go about my images and the certain elements I could use such as a smoke machine, which seemed to be utilized in many of the images. The article also give a theory about where these fears come from saying that it usually comes from their nightmares which then stay in the child’s unconscious mind.