Identity VIII

Identity VIII (2024)

I found myself surrounded by darkness. It wasn't just the absence of light; it was a thick, suffocating blanket that seemed to wrap around me, cutting me off from the world. The shadows danced around, whispering secrets I couldn't understand. Each step I took felt like wading through treacle, the darkness clinging to me like a second skin.

I strained my eyes, trying to make out any shapes in the blackness, but it was futile. There was nothing but the void, stretching out endlessly in all directions. The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound of my own breathing, shallow and uneven.

Fear crept into my heart, cold and clammy. I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, of something lurking just beyond the edge of my vision. Every sound, every rustle of leaves or creak of branches, sent shivers down my spine. I stumbled forward, desperate to escape the oppressive darkness that seemed to press in on me from all sides. But no matter how fast I ran, how far I went, it was always there, waiting for me, ready to swallow me whole.

Surrounded by darkness, I felt small and insignificant, a mere speck in the vast expanse of the universe. And as the night stretched on endlessly, I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever find my way out.

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This piece is part of Identity (2024). It's an abstract long-exposure photograph, created with steel wool on fire in pitch darkness, complemented by digital art, and then turned into a digital collage.