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Parallels: Spooky, surreal photography series exists somewhere between reality and dreams

This Pagan-style photography series, entitled Parallels, is both transfixing and utterly surreal. Shot by Sarah Elise Abramson, who describes herself as residing "at the intersection of poetic and unsettling, creepy and beautiful, subversive and classically romantic", the work is ethereal, whilst demonstrating an appreciative love for nature, eccentric characters, and discarded objects.

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Two hands hold a clear container of blue and green water with floating debris against a sunlit landscape

The photographer explains: "There is an enigmatic and mystifying place that every person that's ever lived has visited. We do so with an obscure regularity that we take for granted as conscious beings. The realm of our dreams is one with which we are all familiar. Where elucidation occurs as we are suddenly granted access to our innermost thoughts and where reality seems as distant from us as resolves to the things that eat at us from within.

"When we confuse our dreams with actuality, there is a reason for it. Like the spaces in between the silence, if something only takes place in our mind does that mean it's not reality? This series reflects my time spent in this place – in the parallel dream world."

Abramson writes a monthly column piece for American Art Collector magazine as well as Culture magazine. She has curated numerous shows in Los Angeles while studying her craft as a photographer under the likes of Susan Worsham, Taso Papadakis, and David LaChapelle.

She continues to study under and work with LaChapelle, with exciting future collaborations in the works. Her work has been exhibited at numerous galleries around the world. Discover more at sarahelisephotography.com.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Sarah Elise Abramson

Four robed figures stand among glowing green foliage in a mystical forest setting in Sarah Elise Abramson's Parallels series
A woman with reddish hair sits in a cream upholstered armchair surrounded by overgrown vegetation and weathered wooden structures in an abandoned garden setting.
Pale legs with green bands around the calves, submerged in dark water with a dreamlike, ethereal quality
Figure in a flowing red garment stretched horizontally across rocky tidal flats with water and forested shoreline in the background
Two figures in flowing dresses stand on a wooden platform extending into a still, mirror-like lake surrounded by forested shores and misty mountains
Woman draped in blue fabric bent over a gnarled tree trunk in a forested landscape, her long hair hanging down
Figure in flowing green fabric stands before lush tropical plants with orange flowers in Sarah Elise Abramson's Parallels series
Figure in ornate patterned dress perched on rocky terrain against a backdrop of weathered stone cliff face
Golden straw or hay cascades through the centre of a large dark circular hole or tunnel, with overgrown grass and debris visible at the base
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