Influenced by Arthur Tress

Arthur Tress is an American photographer that grasped the powerful emotions of childhood dreams and expressed them in an series of images created in the 60's and 70's, using surrealism to capture children's nightmares as inspired by actual kids.  

Fig. 1: TRESS

What inspires me about Tress is his ability to capture surreal IN the real.  His work was done before the boom of PHOTOSHOP and he didn't even start shooting color until the 1980's (Tess 2017).  Of course it didn't hurt that he had the super awesome photography-playground of Coney Island, including abandoned theme parks (that is pure ingredient for childhood nightmares right there!)

Since I am hoping to use more 'real' in my surreal his images inspire me even though I will be conveying different emotions and expressing how kids imagine or 'dream' completely awake (i.e. the imagination) but I still hope to incorporate unique locations, items and wardrobe to convey a 'surreal' felling such as the amazing Tess.  

Figure 1. Arthur TRESS. 

TESS, Arthur. 2017.  Arthur Tress. [online] Available at:  https://www.arthurtress.com/about [accessed 24 February 2020].