Ever wish you could see a time-lapse playback of your sleep? So did Ted Spagna. Now the photographer is giving us a voyeuristic “God’s-eye view” into the snoozing patterns of an array of people (and occasionally animal companions) in his new photo book, Sleep. After beginning his series in 1975, Spagna progressively captured more and more subjects in their most vulnerable state: asleep. In turn, it gave new meaning to attempts to capture body language by exposing the splendor, cadence, and organization of sleeping patterns. Spagna’s images also represented an intersection of art and science, as he captured and made publicly consumable the work neuroscientists were doing on sleep science. Click through the rest of the slides to see for yourself. Sleep, which will be published by Rizzoli this month, will feature 70 color illustrations from his collection.
(Pictured left is Wave of Sleep (detail) from 1980.)
Courtesy of George Eastman House and The Ted Spagna Project
Images courtesy of George Eastman House and © 2013 The Ted Spagna Project
Courtesy of George Eastman House and The Ted Spagna Project
Images courtesy of George Eastman House and © 2013 The Ted Spagna Project
Courtesy of George Eastman House and The Ted Spagna Project
Images courtesy of George Eastman House and © 2013 The Ted Spagna Project
Courtesy of George Eastman House and The Ted Spagna Project
Images courtesy of George Eastman House and © 2013 The Ted Spagna Project
Courtesy of George Eastman House and The Ted Spagna Project
Images courtesy of George Eastman House and © 2013 The Ted Spagna Project
Courtesy of George Eastman House and The Ted Spagna Project
