Inner Darkness: As a psychoanalyst I have for many years explored the mind's inner landscapes. Some of them are relatively sunny explorations as in my series, "In the Mind's Eye," also on this website. Some are dark; this is an exploration of a dark inner landscape. We all have our ghosts. Some are friendly and easy to live with. Others are restless, angry and vindictive. They did not necessarily start that way but become so because they have been ignored, neglected, and buried. Such shunned ghosts cannot rest and demand a reckoning. This is a story of one of those depressed and painful reckonings. Please see the artist's statement at the beginning of the gallery for a more in depth discussion of what I am trying to visually render.


There are two versions of this gallery. The first is as stand-alone images. The second is of images framed by a title, a subheading, and what I thought was a revealing quote from T. S. Eliot's work, EAST COKER. See which of the two presentations you feel best conveys the land of the spirits.


All images are copyrighted by Jon Meyer. I do not license images from this gallery but if you are interested in having me do a fine art print for you, please contact me at the "contact me" page in the website.


This series received an Honorable Mention in the 16th Annual Pollux Awards (2021) as a series in the Open Theme Category. This series was awarded a Spotlight Award in BLACK & WHITE MAGAZINE, Issue 155, October 2022, pp. 108-111. The link to the portfolio on the magazine's website is as follows: https://www.bandwmag.com/galleries/bw/contests/42/categories/76/photographs/118284


All images in this gallery are copyrighted by Jon Meyer © and all rights are reserved. I do not license these images but prints are available. If you are interested in a print, please contact me through the Contact Me link on this website.

Inner Darkness: Artist's Statement ©
2020
Inner Darkness: Spirits ©
2020
Photography: This is a limited edition series of 25

The past, present, and future are always with us and are inhabited by the spirits of who we once were, who we are now, and who we will be. My previous series, "In the Mind's Eye," was a story line with a happy ending. Not so in this dark tale.


In addition to the main images in this series, please note the images in the picture frames on the walls. They are important in establishing continuity and/or foreshadowing. For example, the image of a horse from a medieval tapestry in a frame in "Inner Darkness: Remorse" leads to the same image out of the frame in a waking nightmare in "Inner Darkness: Portent." Also note the quotes from T. S. Eliot's "East Coker" at the bottom. I believe they complement the story line.


This image titled as "Beginning to End,"as it was called in the magazine, is the recipient of a Spotlight Award in BLACK AND WHITE MAGAZINE, Issue 150, January 2022, p. 34. It is also one of two images selected from this series to hang in the FotoNostrum Gallery in Barcelona, Spain, in an exhibit entitled Melancholia. It was also juried into the Durham Art Guild's 67th Annual Juried Show, Durham, NC, October 1-November 30, 2021. The link to that show's gallery is https://sites.google.com/durhamartguild.org/67thannualjuriedexhibition/exhibit-artwork. In the Durham Art Guild's show it is titled, "The Three Faces of Eve." This image was also a Nominee for an Award in the Amateur Fine Art Category of the 16th Annual Black & White Spider Awards. It was juried into the Second Annual Online Digital Show of Cary Photographic Artists. The link is: https://www.caryphotographicartists.org/cpa-2nd-annual-digital-2022?itemId=q7rzhxbl9sccidg5ntma9jwif4l6mn

Inner Darkness: Invocation ©
2020
Photography: This is a limited edition series of 25

Some think that ghosts occupy graveyards but in fact they live in our minds and there is no way to anchor them to any place other than where we are. Although we may invoke them, we don't really call them up because they are already with us.

Inner Darkness: Remorse ©
2020
Photography: This is a limited edition series of 25

In all our lives there are regrets about mistakes and missed opportunities. Sometimes, however, the abandonment of childhood and its consignment to spectral holdovers goes beyond regrets to remorse.

Inner Darkness: Changeling ©
2020
Photography: This is a limited edition series of 25

The fable is that woodland fairies and elves would sometimes steal a human child to raise as their own. They would leave behind a "changeling," a hollow and evil being. If who we once were is abandoned to ghosts, we are changed and hollowed out in the process.

Inner Darkness: Portent ©
2020
Photography: Limited edition series of 25

The horse with the severed forelimb that was in a picture on the wall two images ago has now emerged as a mutilated specter in a living nightmare. It is a portent of what is to come.

Inner Darkness: Anguish ©
2020
Photography: Limited edition series of 25

The nightmare has been converted into reality. In our practices, we have often heard that the pain of cutting relieves the pain of inner suffering. Perhaps it will also relieve the torment of being haunted.

Inner Darkness: Despair ©
2020
Photography: Limited edition series of 25

Of course, ghosts are never really driven out because they are part of us. All that is left after the pain is despair. This image, like the first image in this series has been selected to hang in the FotoNostrum Gallery in Barcelona, Spain, in an exhibit entitled Melancholia.

Inner Darkness: Reunion ©
2020
Photography: Limited edition series of 25

The final image is ambiguous. Whether in this world or another, perhaps the only solution is reunion with one's ghosts.

About the Artist (Revised and Updated October 2021)
Remorse Stand Alone Version ©
2022
Photography

This is a revision of my Remorse image. It is a stand alone version and has been changed so that it could be shown out of the context of the Inner Darkness series.

Inner Darkness: Reunion - Version 2 ©
2022
Photography

This is the second version of the last image in my Inner Darkness series. I artificially aged the face of my model using some of the new AI software. Overall, I find this version more to the point than the original but will keep both.

Reunion Version 3 ©
2022
Photography

This is a further revision of the face in the left hand frame in this image. That face has kept the mask but has been aged severely.