Gallery 1 — Awna Lyn Photo

Hound of Heaven and The Martyr is an exploration of the duality between Self-Sacrifice and Self-Destruction. The project is a representation of how I've sacrificed my self and destroyed other things in my life, an attempt be better without doing the work, and how I have deluded myself into thinking it will always be the solution. In the end, I lack the acknowledgment and am unable to do anything about either of these paths I’ve taken, but the results are the same.

This is my first official project. It’s a step forward into a larger body of work that I plan to continue. By taking the route of using a cinematic photography I’ve given a solid outline of the fictional story I created. Shooting in 16x9 and creating atmosphere in each frame., the viewer should feel like they’re moving along with a film that hasn’t quite been completed.

The connection to my experience as these characters is absolute. I truly have felt an overwhelming need to be someone else, to kill what most deem the weak part of themselves. To whomever comes across this project, take a second to reflect on your own life and ask yourself the same question: who am I and what do I want?

I would like it to be known that the viewer is the “Hound” referenced in the title. The poem “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson describes the journey of running from divine grace and learning to accept it, whether you deem yourself worthy or not. In perspective of the project, your own better judgment being pinned up against what you have convinced yourself to be true. It’s a connection to the outside perspectives of ones who care and see you suffering but are unable to do more. At the end of the day, you have to make a choice: suffer or change.