Evaluation
One of the main reasons why I chose the 'Issues and Observations' project is because I wanted to experiment with ways to portray Mental Illness within my photography. Overall for this project, I have produced two shoots, one on location and one in the studio based on mental illnesses. For the Studio shoot, I decided to use both black and white backgrounds as I wanted to create a variety of different edits. The focus for this shoot was to create images that portrayed the types of feelings and thoughts that people who suffer with mental illnesses go through, daily. I also wanted to create a story with all of the images together, so I used the same model throughout. Using the influence from both Christian Sampson and Daryna Barykina, I decided to produce extreme and powerful photos that shocked viewers and made people think. Therefore, the photos create confusion. However, with context, those who suffer with mental illnesses may relate to the emotions within the images themselves. For instance, most of the images are dark and full of anger and frustration, which personally, is one of the main emotions I feel daily about my mental illness. For the basic portraits, my camera settings were 1/125, F8 and ISO 200. However, for some of the images I used a slower shutter speed such as 0"5 or 4" or 1/8 to create a blurred effect. I experimented with different shutter speeds so that I could create different blur effects in my photographs without editing the image too much.
During the shoot, I took a lot of ordinary portraits of my model so that I could manipulate them through different editing techniques on photoshop, this being one of those shots. I asked my model before I took the shot to look as though they were screaming. For this photo, I darkened the background so that it was completely black. I then used the Liquify filter, and used the enlarger tool to enlarge my model's mouth. I wanted to create an image like this because it resembles the feelings of frustration from not being heard. Most people who suffer with mental illness don't talk about it enough or stay silent completely, which causes anger and frustration for them because they don't let their troubles out, and that is exactly what this photo signifies.
This is one of the images I shot with a slow shutter speed to blur the image. I asked my model to look directly in to the camera, and then asked them to sway side to side, whilst walking towards the camera. I wanted to create an image whereby there were more than one of the model. I wanted to do this to create the illusion of multiple identities/personalities. This photo in particular interests me because the two blurred copies of the model are different colours, one has a slight orange tint, whereas the other is completely red. As I didn't use multiple flash, and just used a slow shutter speed instead, the model himself is standing still and in focus in the centre of the image and then the copies of him are at each side of him.
Progression
For my next shoot I want to focus on Domestic Violence and the effects the abuse can cause for victims. I plan to use a woman for this shoot, as I want to create fragile and vulnerable images that resemble the feelings of a victim realistically. Domestic violence happens to both genders, however it is more common for a man to abuse a woman than it is the other way around. To do this shoot, I'm going to use makeup and special effects face paint to create 'fake' bruises on my model.
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