Aaron Burgess, Sauna series (Portrait (2018))

My interest in this sauna series evolves from the physical and mental change that can happen to people, after they have spent time relaxing in a sauna. Though the high heat in a sauna session speeds up the heart rate, the calm, quiet environment also relaxes the body and mind. It is this transformation in body and expression that I have explored and documented with a series of portraits of people that use the sauna. The process is a portrait before going in sauna, then another portrait straight after each person has completed a session in the sauna. This series was shot in New Zealand in 2017.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.