This dark photo series turns a childhood fear into work of art

As children, many, if not most of us, were afraid of the dark. In fact, I’m still not quite comfortable with it. But sometimes, the greatest things are born from our greatest fears – and photographer Daniel Sackheim shows it in his latest project Unseen.

As a child, you think about what might be lurking under the bed, out the window, or in the closet. But as an adult, Daniel started using darkness to his advantage and ended up with an emotional collection of black-and-white photos.

Like many people, Daniel admits that he used to sleep with lights on as a kid. But who would have thought: now he finds the greatest inspiration right there, in the dark. “Now I find myself inexplicably drawn to the back streets and dark alleyways of anonymous cities to the point of obsession,” Daniel says. “The irony is not lost on me.”

As an adult, curiosity wins over childhood fears. After all, this exact process is what drives us forward in life, if you ask me. “This curiosity is rooted in a need to dig at the surface to discover what lies just beneath it, unseen,” Daniel explains. “Inspired by the film language of Noir, this body of work explores isolated fragments of subjects once there but now gone, as a means of shining a light on what is hidden, if only for an instant.”

Daniel’s project Unseen is available as a virtual exhibition at All About Photo. Check out the rest of the project below, and make sure to find more of Daniel’s work on his website and Instagram.