I never have liked the idea of explaining my work to others. What I do is try to create a story that can differ from person to person, depending on who is viewing the work and what their personal experiences are. I love hearing hearing how people view the story behind the art, what it makes them feel and what they believe was meant in the creation.

The very brief series I created recently, “The All Night Series”, has for some reason, struck a cord with many people who have seen the three photos posted in other places. More than many of my recent works, this series has generated questions, comparisons and thought sharing.

So, given that, I will break my cardinal rule and explain what inspired this three photo series.

I sometimes find myself lying awake at night with my brain running on overload. Stupid, unimportant things plague my thoughts and keep me awake. I run through lists of things that need to be done the next day, conversations I have had or will have that really have no major importance or need to be worked out ahead of time. The body is exhausted but the brain is like the little child who refuses to go to sleep, no matter how much you plead, coerce or threaten punishment.

One night, this experiences of being awake all night sparked the idea for a series of photos.

I chose three different hours that were critical points for me. 1:00am is the point at which I realize this will be a problem but that i can still salvage the night and get a decent rest if I can just overcome it and get the brian to shut down. 3:00am is that point at which I realize that the night is shot. Even if I can fall asleep, I will not be functioning well the next day. 6:00am is the hour at which there is no hope. the alarm will go off in a half hour and the only point of remaining in bed now is out of sheer stubbornness. The entire night has been lost.

In explaining this, my inspiration for the photo series, I am sure that the next question would be “Why choose Saturday, a night when many people don’t have to worry about sleep?”

The answer to this is again in my desire to have my work represent different emotions for different people. Assuming I am not the only person who experiences this, as evidenced by the fact that so many people seem to connect with the feeling and mood of the series, I chose to make the photos more open for interpretation into the reasons why this occurs.
By choosing Saturday night into Sunday morning as the time frame, it leaves open the feeling that for some, it’s not a matter of stress or worry that invades our sleep time and causes us to be non-functional on a weekday. For some, the feeling of being alone on a weekend, a time when we feel that we should be with someone else, can cause the loneliness, depression and despair that ruins a night and leaves us wondering if things will change.