Tension, Paranoia, and Hilarity Run Through These Photos of Domesticity Gone Wrong

For most people, the home is a place to relax, unwind, and feel at ease, but for Israeli photographer Rubi Lebovitch, maintaining a household is hardly so simple. For Home Sweet Home, the artist takes inspiration from the likes Sigmund Freud and Samuel Beckett to transform the intimate interior of his house into a fun house of follies. Here, comfort becomes dread and all things reasonable and logical evaporate, giving way to insanity and delusion.

In many ways, Home Sweet Home was born six years ago with the photographer’s twins, who in their early years required that Lebovitch stay home for long periods of time. After years of shooting in the streets day in and day out, his own house suddenly became a very strange place indeed. As his children played with household items, using various knick-knacks in ways incomprehensible to the adult mind, Lebovitch’s eyes opened to the untapped possibilities of a place he thought he knew. For the first time, he observed every once-familiar corner, finding surprises at every turn.

Like a performer in the mid-20th century Theater of the Absurd, the photographer set himself to creating in reality the many irrational concepts that popped into his head. Whenever an idea emerges, he instantly jots it down on paper before he has the chance to forget. From there, he gathers all the requisite props and sets about staging each peculiar fantasy.

With Home Sweet Home, Lebovitch cuts through the sentimental to reveal the threads of tension, paranoia, and hilarity that run through every household. Whether it’s a noise in the dark, a shadow when we’re all alone, or a tiny fly buzzing in our ears, there are indeed little curiosities that make us question the safety and contentment that comes with having a home, and in the end, it hardly matters whether they’re real or imagined.

All images © Rubi Lebovitch

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