The silence subtly disappeared sometime in mid-January 2019, following a traumatic event that occurred one year before. Since then, white noise, scintillating sounds, and other dysfunctional frequencies have been with me every moment of every day, like impalpable symbols of trauma, superimposed.

This self-portrait, shot in Super 8 film, illustrates the sensory chaos provoked by permanent tinnitus. I have had to tame this ‘phantom pain’, like perpetually surging sound waves, to define a new state of silence.

Director's Biography:

A COTB alum and award-winner, Sarah Seené is a French visual artist based in Montréal (Quebec, Canada). Working primarily in 35mm, Super 8 and Polaroid film, she focuses attention on the face, the body and the human being to create a dreamlike and poetic world in which intimacy is central.

Seené also writes poetry, which she integrates into her photographic and moving image works.

Her photographs have been exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions in Europe and North America. She has been published in several magazines and has photographed French and Quebecois singers and musicians.