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Continuing this year's programme Zoom In is excited to present, Sleepless an exhibition of photographs by Laura Cuch

'Sleepless' consists of a series of portraits of people who for some reason sleep very little. This project reflects on a surprising fact, that such everyday things as sleeping and dreams are still much of a mystery. From a scientific point of view, it’s not really known what the benefits of sleep are for our metabolism and what are the consequences of its lack.

From a cultural point of view, it’s interesting to look at how the act of sleeping is understood and at the very idea of insomnia, because it leads us to observe how a culture or society relates to the notion of time and its control, night and day, light and darkness, privacy, safety and surveillance, consciousness and oblivion, the notion of health and the definition of pathologies.

The project started from the curiosity to know how people live with sleeplessness. I was interested in looking at lack of sleep as a phenomenon, without limiting it to a specific reason, and I set as the selection criteria that the people portrayed sleep under four hours per day, even if it is only temporarily.

I interviewed the participants first and together we decided a place where I would photograph them in relation to their own particular story. During the photographic sessions I asked them to do some kind of relaxation exercises or some meditation.

'Sleepless' is the first part of a trilogy that aims to question what it is to be human, by exploring issues of identity in relation to health and disease, ‘lack’ as a corporeal condition and the imaginary around the body and its control. One of the main challenges of this trilogy is visually to explore aspects of the human condition that are invisible and that Laura tries to bring out through the specific approach of each portrait as a result of the interaction during the creative process with the people portrayed.

Laura's motivation behind this trilogy is to explore vital experiences that somehow transgress the notion of a 'normal' human subject (established and defined by social norms through scientific/cultural discourse) in order to challenge conventional understandings of the human subject. While these experiences can generate a certain amount of anxiety from a sense of dysfunction in relation to an ideological body, this trilogy deals with its subjects with a sense of positive difference.

Laura Cuch is a documentary and fine art photographer who is currently engaged in portrait photography, drawing on aspects of social research. She is a visiting researcher in the Anthropology department at Goldsmiths University, as well as a visiting tutor in the MA in Photography and Urban Cultures, also at Goldsmiths.

Laura has exhibited nationally at the Rich Mix, Photofusion, The Viewfinder Gallery and City University; and internationally at Descubrimientos - PhotoEspaña 09, Centro Cultural Blanquerna, Arts Santa Mònica, H2O Gallery, Sala d’Art Jove, Talent Latent/Scan09, Emergent09 and Espai Cavallers 31-33. Her work has been published in Le Monde, Barcelona Metròpolis, EFE24, Súmmum and London Independent Photography.

You can find out more about Laura on her website. and also here and even on facebook

This event is FREE, though we will welcome donations towards our Community and Outreach Education Programme.

Opening times are 10.30am - 5.00pm.

See here for detailed location and directions. Please call us on 020 7793 0000 or email us if you'd like more information. We are looking forward to seeing you!