Sunday 11 January 2015

Middle-aged photographer takes nude self-portraits in abandoned buildings to show her fear of aging

For the past eight years, one adventurous photographer has been exploring her fear of aging by taking self-portraits of herself nude in derelict buildings.
Sarah R. Bloom, a Philadelphia-native, uses a tripod and a timed camera to capture herself; posing naked in old factories, shopping malls and even an abandoned mental institution.
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Stark: For the past eight years, Sarah R. Bloom has been exploring her fear of aging by taking self-portraits of herself nude in derelict buildings (pictured)


Ms Bloom has been concerned with this element of her life for some time.
'The exploration of identity as a woman entering middle age has emerged as a persistent theme in my work,' she writes on her website.
'Akin to the stages of grief, I face the idea of aging at first with dread, then resistance, and ultimately acceptance.'
She adds: 'In my experience, these stages are non-linear.


Contemplative: Ms Bloom (pictured), a Philadelphia-native, uses a tripod and a timed camera to capture herself
Fear: 'I'm thinking about the weight of aging, how it feels to get older and how it feels to be left behind,' Ms Bloom explains

Zoned in: 'The exploration of identity as a woman entering middle age has emerged as a persistent theme in my 



Abandoned: Ms Bloom remarks, 'Akin to the stages of grief, I face the idea of aging at first with dread, then resistance, and ultimately acceptance'
Back and forth: She adds, 'In my experience, these stages are non-linear'

Growing older: Speaking frankly about her personal struggles, Ms Bloom says, 'It's a really hard age to be, I'm discovering'
Wrecked: The photographer remarks, 'You're past the point of no return in a sense. I just look back a lot'

Negative thinking: 'I try not to but it's just really easy to get stuck in feeling, "Oh my god, I'm running out time",' she says. 'And what have I done so far?"'
Negative thinking: 'I try not to but it's just really easy to get stuck in feeling, "Oh my god, I'm running out time",' she says. 'And what have I done so far?"'

Emotional roller-coaster: When she's shooting her self-portraits, Ms Bloom says she feels 'sadness' and 'some fear' - and that ultimately, she is trying to find peace
Emotional roller-coaster: When she's shooting her self-portraits, Ms Bloom says she feels 'sadness' and 'some fear' - and that ultimately, she is trying to find peace

Searching: 'That's part of the struggle and what I'm trying to work out,' she describes. 'Doing these pictures is seeking that acceptance'
Searching: 'That's part of the struggle and what I'm trying to work out,' she describes. 'Doing these pictures is seeking that acceptance'

Hiding: Ms Bloom scrunches up into the corner of a room amid crumbling plaster 
Hiding: Ms Bloom scrunches up into the corner of a room amid crumbling plaster 

That's a wrap: In many of her self-portraits, Sarah shrouds herself in a plastic sheet
That's a wrap: In many of her self-portraits, Sarah shrouds herself in a plastic sheet

Isolated: Ms Bloom huddles over in an empty ceramic bath located in a derelict building
Isolated: Ms Bloom huddles over in an empty ceramic bath located in a derelict building

Grim: Abandoned factories and industrial structures serve as common locations for the photographer to shoot
Grim: Abandoned factories and industrial structures serve as common locations for the photographer to shoot

Power: Huge disused hunks of machinery render Ms Bloom's hunched body small and overshadowed 
Power: Huge disused hunks of machinery render Ms Bloom's hunched body small and overshadowed 

Washed out: Where Ms Bloom does use color in her photographs, the hues are cold and muted
Washed out: Where Ms Bloom does use color in her photographs, the hues are cold and muted

Art attack: Graffiti covers the walls of this long-forgotten structure 
Art attack: Graffiti covers the walls of this long-forgotten structure 

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