The Sound of Dreams

The Sound of Dreams – This is the title of my first book that was just released in July 2017.  It is a collection of photographs coming from dreams that come in my sleep. They came so clearly and always haunted me in my sleep.

In the dreams, they came like shadows, voices, songs, light and gasps, they were so close, even closer than the clothes I wore. I felt like I was back to the beginning where I was walking alone in the middle of a crowd and felt cold in the middle of the blazing heat. Those dreams were so real and so clear that it made me constantly think about them.

On those few days, a word always came to my mind – “intuition”. I tried to find out more about that word and finally I understood that intuition is an ability to understand something without rational or intellectual reasoning, it’s more about an understanding that comes suddenly, out of the awareness. Intuition is also a whisper from the heart that feels like a push to do something that sometimes even out of the ordinary and awareness of our minds.

So in that time, I tried to rethink about the dreams that came a few times and appeared clearly. By following the whisper in my heart, I tried turning those dreams into photographs because I was pushed by this feeling of thirst to reach pleasure even though pain is unavoidable. Was it just a dream that was impossible to reach or a time to pass through the phases in those dreams themselves?

This might be an emotion, but it was actually about feelings. There was sorrow, loneliness and even the most important one which was the pleasure of love that came from the Creator.

I started to think that photography was the best way to let go all of the things that were buried inside my mind. Fear, sadness, disappointment and the things outside my awareness.

My Background

My name is Muhammad Hidayat, and I was born in Manado – Indonesia. I currently work as one of the finance staff at the Banda Aceh City government office. I finished schooling in computer information management department.

I can say I’m one of those people who just got acquainted and serious in photography. In 2015, I started to get serious with photography and was very interested in black and white expressionism and fine art photography.

For me photography is a treasure and the most beautiful thing I have today. Photography is a place or medium where I can express life and vent my feelings, emotions and thoughts. I can see the world where my childhood is and I can imagine things that have not happened in me yet and I can feel the future and dream about life through photography. Photography changed not only my way of thinking but the way I feel things. It has brought back clarity, helping me to remember everything that happened in my life in detail.

Black and white are characters from my photos. I do not really get too emotionally in color. But black and white photography is life for me. I love it.

Influences, Favorite Stuff, Etc.

I have to admit that there are some photographers that I admire very much. They are: Antoine d’Agata, Jacob Aue Sobol, and a few others. I also have to acknowledge photographers from my own country, such as Chris Tuarissa, Aji Susuanto anom and some photographer friends from Bandung (Baskara Puraga, Tomi saputra, Mang Agung) and one female photographer Yusie Meiti who piqued my interest in black and white photographers. I am also grateful for art books, music and other art performances and especially the life experiences I have had from my childhood to the present that I can implement in photography.

Current Projects

Currently I have three photozines: Blurring and Motion, Muse and eleven and have published one Photobook: The Sound of Dreams. All the projects that I do take from my experience in childhood until now where there is a fear, a sense of loss and a part of life that is very mysterious.