Arthur Tress' photography is the stuff that dreams are made of -- but not the kind you're thinking of. The talented photographer recreates the subconscious fears that children experience through their dreams, or more accurately, their nightmares.
The images carry the internal anxieties of the subject in question, but they're also reflective of a greater, societal dread that has influenced the latter half of the decade. We live in a world where the domestic sphere no longer represents a space of contentment and comfort; a world in which the mother is no longer a consummate figure, but one that has been tainted.
In a way, society has undergone a collective loss of innocence. This is felt most acutely by children, who are forced to navigate a relentless, unforgiving world of panic, perversions and punishments. The desire to understand this confusing existence is personified in Tress' images of hostile floods and dunce caps.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Recreating Childhood Nightmares
- Opportunity to create immersive experiences, using augmented or virtual reality for individuals to confront and work through their childhood anxieties.
- Reflecting Societal Fears
- Opportunity for artists and marketers to create content that speaks to and validates the broader societal anxieties and trauma.
- Loss of Innocence
- Opportunity for therapists and psychologists to develop tailored treatments for a generation struggling with societal loss and childhood trauma.
Where This Applies
- Art
- Artists can create immersive experiences like AR or VR, or using digital content to address and confront societal traumas.
- Marketing
- Marketers can create content or campaigns that reflect and validate wider societal anxieties and offer hope or solutions for people navigating difficult times.
- Therapy
- Therapists and psychologists have an opportunity to tailor treatments that address societal loss and childhood traumas, using personalized and technology-based approaches.
