19-year-old photographer Nicolas Bruno takes surreal, haunting photographs that are inspired by his nightmares.
Bruno has been suffering from sleep paralysis since he was 15, a condition that causes him to wake up in the middle of the night unable to move. With his mind caught between waking and sleeping, he is subjected to terrifying visions that he cannot react to.
His photos are a way of dealing with these hallucinations and he draws upon his visions for inspiration to produce his series of conceptual images. Bruno states that he uses “only my camera, two lenses, remote, and my tripod” to create them.
The beautiful but dark scenes feature silhouetted and masked figures, gas masks, bowler hats, lanterns and other props that are recurring occurrences in his nightmares. Far more than simply conveying fear and hysteria, his photos are proof that something amazing can come out of a terrible subject matter.
Now studying photography at Purchase College in New York, Bruno is constantly refining his skills and continues to take powerful and emotion-laden photos of his dreamworld.
Scroll down to view his photos below and head over to his website for more.
[via Viral Nova, images via Nicolas Bruno]