VIVIANE SASSEN : PARASOMNIA

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Isabella Cecconi

Viviane Sassen is a Dutch photographer who studied fashion design and photography before receiving an MFA from Ateliers Arnhem, the Netherlands. Viviane spent three years as a child in Kenya and when her family returned to the Netherlands in 1978, she was troubled, feeling uneasy. At age sixteen, she revisited her beloved country and has been traveling and working in Africa ever since. Parasomnia is a body of work, in a number of intentionally unidentified African countries, that features anonymous subjects. Parasomnia is a sleep disorder and wickness whose symptoms include abnormal dreams, nightmares and sleepwalking. Her surreal pictures lead the viewer to a journey through the mysterious remnants of her memories. Sassen’s photography is not easy to define. Sure thing is that there’s a sort of “air of dislocation” in all her images. She creates striking and hyper-vivid colors, blistering, I’d say, that serves to emphasize the mystery of her subjects in undefined locations.

Viviane Sassen’s work has appealed many either in the photography world or the fashion industry. For instance, David James commissioned her for Miu Miu campaing.

http://www.vivianesassen.com/