Work Diary - Shoot 8: Domestic Violence Part 1

Evaluation 

Within this shoot, I wanted to capture the horrors of Domestic Violence. As Domestic Violence against women and men is unfortunately, such a common occurrence, I wanted to highlight the ultimate extremes of what this kind of violence can lead too - which is basically death. This is part 1, as I plan to do another shoot with Domestic Violence in my exam. In my exam shoot, I plan to use a white background to emphasise the bruises a lot more, and I will also be using the same model. The bruises become significantly worse within both shoots, as I wanted to start small, and build up the bruises to the extremes, as some Domestic Violence cases don't always go as far as death or close to it, sometimes it's just bruises. For this shoot, I used face paints to create the bruises on my models face, and shot an array of images of my model looking worried, sad, scared and desperate. The photos do get worse throughout the shoot, with more bruises. For my exam shoot, I also plan to use fake blood to create more gory images. Domestic Violence is one of the many issues that I wanted to explore within this topic, along with mental illness and homelessness. My camera settings were F8.0, ISO 200 and 1/125. 

This is one of the last images I took, and within this image there are bruises on my models face, including her nose and lips, around her neck in the shape of a hand-print. Obviously these 'injuries' are incredibly extreme, but I wanted to create frightening images to make people more aware of what could happen if a victim does not speak out. I used very low lighting so that the photo was quite dark, but still highlighted my models face. I asked my model to look sad and exhausted, as I wanted to express how some victims could feel, like giving up and giving in is the only answer - which it isn't. 

In this image, I asked my model to wear a couple of rings on her wedding finger, I then placed her hand on her face, and spaced out her fingers so that she was looking through the spaces. I wanted to do this, because it is more common for a woman to be a victim of Domestic Violence, and most of the time it is completely hidden. Like the models face, Domestic Violence can be hidden away through fake smiles and laughter, and some couples pretend to be the happiest, in order to hide what is truly happening behind close doors. Therefore, the models hand represents the closed doors, and what is hidden behind it is bruises and bleeding. I chose to ask my model to wear a wedding ring so that it was clear that her injuries were related to her 'marriage', and her 'husband'. 

Progression

As I said previously, I plan to recreate this shoot for my exam. However, I would like to use a white background instead to enhance the colouring of the 'bruises' and also make the photos a little brighter. I will also use fake blood to create worse injuries. In my exam shoot, I have decided that I want the injuries to increase and become worse throughout each picture, so that is a series from start to finish of minor injuries to terrible injuries. I also would like to create an animation of the injuries getting worse on my model to indicate the severity that Domestic Violence could lead too.