parasomnia

Nightmares belong to the group of sleep disorders known parasomnias. In my case they are very recurring, intense and distressing nightmares.

These images represent a specific one. They are places from my childhood: my neighborhood, those of my maternal and paternal grandparents that I used to visit frequently, my first school, and even the building where my cousin lived, the entrance to my house with that storage room that you had to access through a dark hallway, and I felt terrified when entering. In these places, I have had entirely normal experiences, but for some reason that I don't quite understand or escapes me, they hold a significant place in my dream world.

​In any case, I wanted to return to these places I hadn't visited in over 30 years and photograph them, partly as therapy and a search for a possible end to these specific nightmares or an answer to such nightmares. The second case has been unsuccessful. The first... only time will tell.

As an anecdote, I'll share that on one of the streets in that neighborhood from my childhood, I came across two establishments side by side, a bar and a cider house. One had my last name as its name (which is not very common to find in Asturias, especially spelled with a "v"). The other was named "El Acueducto"... a symbol of the city where I've spent the last 20 years of my life.

The images in this essay are dark, confusing and enigmatic. Just like my dreams.