Sleep (Untitled 01) by Summer '07 contender Barbara Sullivan

I have a friend named Meryl who cries at any mentioning of ghosts. Seriously, you don't even have to complete the first sentence of a ghost story and she'll already be crying. I mention this because this photo reminds me of ghosts, even though its from a series entitled Sleep by today's contender, Barbara Sullivan. My association of ghosts with Sullivan's photo is particularly pertinent today, since I am also recalling something former HS Nina Berman said to me last night about the men in her Purple Hearts series being kind of like ghosts. I think ghosts are fascinating and unbelievably frightening. I have felt this way ever since my older brother forced me to watch an episode of Unsolved Mysteries about ghosts on the Queen Mary. One of the segments showed a bunch of ghostly Abe Lincoln lookalikes wandering around in one of the ship's many rooms. I also likehow everyone always happens to have their own version of a ghost story.

Anyway, I doubt this photo is of a ghost. I think it is actually of a sleepwalker. Maybe. But, the point is that it's ghost-ly. It also reminds me of the cinematography in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, particularly of early scenes in the movie with the youngest daughter who kills herself first. (OOPS! I guess I just spoiled the whole thing for some of you...P.S. if you haven't read the book by Jeffrey Eugenides, you should because it's incredible.)

Sullivan calls the series "Sleep: The Unknown Darkness":

This project originated from my own insomnia and fascination with the nighttime hour. Researching scientific theories on sleep cycles as well as contemporary and historical ideas on dreaming, I used long exposures (sometimes up to 7 hours) to document the process. These “external� images are complemented by the “internal�--loose dreamlike narratives.

The other photos from the series are beautiful, as well. There is one of a sparsely-clad woman descending a set of stairs in the dark that makes me think she is the sleepwalker from the above photo. Sullivan's site offers a good glimpse into her work. I also really enjoyed the series entitled Africa, which features a striking red-headed woman in a long, 70s-era floral dress.

On her work as a photographer, Sullivan says:

I am most interested in creating a story by expressing the emotional and psychological experience that lies just below the surface. Although I originally began with painting, having been very much inspired by the German Expressionists, I found my medium and my voice in photography when I began photographing at night. For me, the night is a space of heightened awareness where we confront and engage with aspects of our most primal self. I later brought my work out into the light, but am still searching for this same rawness of mood and feeling.

Barbara Sullivan was born in Germany, but grew up in the United States. "Small towns, big cities, redneck suburbs..." she says. She holds a B.F.A. from the Parsons School of Design, and has studied at the International Center of Photography, as well as at Carmen Oberst Foto Kunst in Hamburg, Germany. She has exhibited her work in both Germany and New York.

Check out her website . Best of luck, Barbara!

Enter now, friends! Especially because for the final 5 days of submissions, we will be featuring two contenders a day, with Sir Michael Duong helping out here on the blog!