Nora Nord
A particular inspiration for me has been the ADHD photographer, Nora Nord (from Norway). Like me, she was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, also while at university, and started her photography project as a way to connect with similar people who could share in the joys and struggles of ADHD. Nord took photos of and interviewed numerous people with ADHD - the photos provide a glimpse into the subjects' lives as ADHDers, and the interviews have been published as podcasts to enable underrepresented people to share their stories.
"It has also been important for me to talk about what ADHD can look like – from our funny habits and irritations to our creative paths – because there are so many people who don’t fit the stereotype. I certainly didn’t, and there are so many others who would benefit from knowing they are neurodivergent too." - Nord
Nord's portraits are shot in the subjects' bedrooms, just as they are, without being tidied. This is significant because there is a great deal of shame associated with the messiness common in ADHDers, yet Nord has managed to capture this in a respectful, authentic way. Alongside the photographs, Nord includes snippets of her interviews with her subjects to provide a little insight to the individual's story. Some of these reflect on the struggles of having ADHD, or the difficulty in getting an accurate diagnosis. Others embrace the positive aspects of being neurodivergent and their hopes for the future.
"It's so important for positive representation as it reassures us that we’re not alone, and that we are more capable than we think."
"I think my favourite thing about having ADHD is I’m constantly reminded of how expansive the mind is!"
"My dad's a doctor and he just really, really didn't think that I [had ADHD]. And I think he thought that I was kind of trying to find reasons to justify like bad behaviour or like not trying very hard at school. So he kind of just thought that if I got diagnosed it would be like I would fake it so that I didn't have to try as hard, I think."
My images are going to be more conceptual than Nord's work, but I hope to capture the same authenticity as I share the viewpoints of my contributors - where possible, my subjects will also have ADHD (I already have one ADHDer friend who is happy to model). I think authenticity is the key to this project, as I aim to dispel some of the myths, combat the stigma, and further a more accurate and diverse representation of what ADHD actually is.
Steven Spazuk
It has been hard to find photographers that burn their images. This may partially be because of the rise of digital media, but also because of the "burning" technique used in the darkroom, which makes it difficult to sift through search engine results to find what I am looking for specifically. An interesting alternative to burning existing photos, however, is Steven Spazuk's use of fire to create images - a technique called fumage.
"This duality of human nature is reflected in the medium of fire, and carbon as soot, both of which hold the power to nurture or destroy life." - Spazuk
Spazuk uses a candle flame to paint his images onto paper, as the smoke and soot leave eerie, ethereal impressions. With great care and patience, Spazuk layers the deposits to create incredibly lifelike landscapes and animal portraits, specialising in birds with ghostly wings. Much of his work centres around the fragility of life with an emphasis on the climate crisis, which fumage is particularly suited to. Fire is both destructive and constructive as it alludes to both death and rebirth, and Spazuk's work is a reminder to consider the effects of industrialisation on the natural world around us.
There is a similar duality to ADHD - through our struggles we can find it to be quite a destructive force in our lives, but through our triumphs we can find that it nurtures our unending creativity and unique strengths. There is also often a battle between inner and outer manifestations of hyperactivity, between our hyperfocus and distractibility, and between the mask we show the world and our true self.
I would like to use fire as a symbol for ADHD - specifically to represent the destruction of the mask to reveal the beauty below, and as a result, a sense of rebirth as we take ownership of our ADHD. To do this, I will try burning away parts of my black-and-white prints and placing brightly coloured images behind. On a wider level, this represents my project as a whole as I open up about what life with ADHD is actually like.
Nico Goodden
A street photographer based in London, Nico Goodden is no stranger to finding beauty in the unlikeliest of places. He captures images of the city and its vibrant urban art, and uses selective colour to direct the audience and make a statement.
"I find that selective colour in photography can really be a powerful tool to attract the viewer towards a specific area of the image." - Goodden
By converting his photos to monochrome and picking out just the graffiti in colour, Goodden draws the audience in and begins to unravel a story. Who are the artists? What does "FREE" mean for them? It's so beautifully painted, and so expertly picked out by the photographer, that you forget you're looking at an image of a run-down part of London. I see it as a symbol of the richness of life and the abundance of creativity that can be found even in the mundanity of everyday life. Pops of colour in an otherwise monochrome image reflect the vibrancy and energy of an ADHD brain, daring to be different. As selective colour allows the photographer to direct the viewer's attention, it may be a useful tool for me to illustrate inattention or distraction, as well as unbridled creativity.
Similarly, the motion blur on the second image also directs our attention - this time towards the eyes, and it's hard to look away. One of the people I have spoken to enjoys her ability to hyperfocus, when you are so intensely focused on something that you cannot pull your attention away. While that can sometimes get in the way of other necessary tasks, if we are able to harness it and direct it, hyperfocus can help us get a lot done to a high standard in a short space of time, or we can get absorbed into a hobby and really begin to unwind. This motion blur effect, or simulated zoom, could be useful in demonstrating hyperfocus.
Ben Harvey
One way I could incorporate colour is through bubbles - they are quite an apt symbol for ADHD. I and many other ADHDers have often been complimented for having a bubbly personality; we are effervescent, lively, and playful. This may be because we look at the world through a different lens and often develop a quirky sense of humour. A deeper link is our fragility - many of us experience rejection sensitivity due to feeling broken and inadequate, our confidence bursting at the slightest touch. The mesmerising swirls of colour found in close-up shots of bubbles can also be representative of variable attention - we could be drawn in by the details and almost hypnotised into hyperfocus, or the bubble could pop, its fleeting nature echoing our disrupted focus and subsequent forgetfulness.
Ben Harvey has created a guide to bubble photography on his blog, where he has also showcased some of his wonderful macro shots. He successfully captures the intricate details of the surface of the bubbles, as the refracted light dances in the full spectrum of colour.
I am particularly inspired by these images as the domes speak of planets and vibrant galaxies far away - neurodivergent people often feel like visitors to this world, literally alienated because of their differences. The middle image was taken of a flat bubble, and you can see the black dots of the membrane rupturing within the sea of colour - Harvey masterfully captured this bubble at the end of its life, just as it was about to burst. There is so much detail in this style of photography, and I'm looking forward to trying it out for myself.
Aliza Razell
Aliza Razell is an artist who tells stories by combining photography and painting. Her work is often quite conceptual, although usually accompanied by a quote to guide the audience. Below are pieces from her "Anesidora" and "Nostalgia" series, as well as from her works based on mythological characters. Each image tells a story and conveys a deep emotion such as wonder or grief.
The dull, monochromatic backgrounds become alive with vibrant watercolours splattered across the photographs.
The paint brings life and purpose to the photos, and the photos bring context and meaning to the paint. I would love to add paint or ink to my photos, especially to bring colour to an otherwise monochrome darkroom image, and Razell's work has shown me that I must incorporate this carefully and with purpose.
Including quotes alongside the images allows us to appreciate the intended meaning of the art, rather than just seeing a "pretty picture". With the artist's intention known, we can truly understand Halcyone's rebirth and freedom from the sea of despair (bottom left) and the tears of morning dew created by Aurora's grief (bottom right).
Halcyone She jumped towards the waves, and almost impossibly-- she flew, slicing the gentle air with new-born wings. As a weeping bird she skimmed the surface of the waves.
Aurora Aurora was immersed in a grief all her own, and sheds tears of dew on the entire world.
This is something I would like to incorporate into my work. Each image will be inspired by somebody's own experiences of ADHD, and including a quote to explain that will bring context to my series. It is my intention to show the reality of the ADHD life, but conceptual art with no context risks losing that message.
Camouflage - Dazzle
The term "camouflage" is used a lot in the neurodivergent community. Also known as "masking", this is when we try to hide our ADHD symptoms and appear "normal" to the world around us. We may also copy other people in an attempt to fit in. As there is a lot of stigma surrounding ADHD, we often feel ashamed and that we are not good enough, so we suppress the parts of us that people deem unacceptable.
Common examples of camouflaging include forcing yourself to sit quietly when you want to fidget (it feels like desperately trying not to scratch an itch), going quiet and not contributing to conversations (because my mind has gone off on a million tangents and I'm lost), or obsessively scheduling and checking everything (if I don't write down tomorrow's appointment, I'll forget to go. What if I've triple-booked again?)
One of the people I spoke to said that they hate how they have to pretend to be someone else to fit in, but they also worry that people will consider them manipulative.
"I want people to think I'm normal, I put up a mask so you don't know I'm different. I feel like asking "Can you see me? I’m a master of camouflage." I have to act normal so you can’t tell I’m different. I wish I could just be me. When people realise I'm just acting, I hate how they think I'm manipulative just because I'm not open about who I am, but I have to hide because they wouldn't understand. It's not that I'm intentionally misleading you, it's just a way of protecting myself."
To represent this feeling, I would like to incorporate some form of camouflage to the image. Many common camo patterns that you see are associated with war and stealth, and by extension, the notion of hiding to surprise the enemy with an attack. This is not the message I want to portray - the purpose of ADHD camouflaging is not to mislead people or to lull them into a false sense of security, it is simply to protect ourselves. If we are quiet, if we are "normal", we won't be mocked. It's not that we want to become invisible, we're just scared of you seeing the "real" us.
The person I spoke to about camouflage is also autistic, and has a particularly strong interest in ships and naval warfare. After an in-depth discussion about the German U-boats, we decided together that the dazzle camouflage pattern from World War 1 would be a good form of camouflage to incorporate into an image.
The dazzle pattern was first designed by Norman Wilkinson, a Royal Navy volunteer during World War 1. The pattern consisted of abstract shapes and stripes, usually in black and white. Entire ships were painted in these high-contrast, unique designs, and by 1917, all British merchant ships were painted to protect them from the U-boats. The goal was not to conceal them, but rather to distort them, making it harder for the Germans to determine their size, shape, and heading.
My friend particularly identified with this form of camouflage as, while it was eventually used on a variety of vessels like battleships, it was initially developed for the humble merchant ships. Those ships were not on the attack and they had no tactical agenda, they were simply trying to survive. They weren't misleading others to hide their true intentions, as is often assumed about ADHD camouflaging, they were just trying to get through unscathed.
I quickly edited an old image, putting some dazzle camo over the top, and my friend was thrilled with the concept. To ensure a good placement of the pattern and level of contrast, I will add it to the photo digitally and print out a digital negative rather than trying to overlay the pattern in the darkroom.
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