Mental health is fast becoming a hot topic. More people are being diagnosed with a variety of conditions and are starting to speak out about their experiences. While this effort to raise awareness is beginning to break down the barriers faced by those with ill mental health, there is still a long way to go. Unfortunately, not everyone can escape the stigma of being diagnosed with a mental health condition. Some conditions, such as dissociative identity disorder and bipolar disorder, are grossly misunderstood and portrayed as something to fear. In some cases, like binge eating disorder and borderline personality disorder, people are written off and not taken seriously.
I aim to represent those who are still subject to the stigma and ridicule associated with mental illness. To do this, I will use five photographic genres to explore the struggles these people go through daily, and the thoughts and feelings they often battle against.
Location Portraiture
Firstly, I will highlight the theme of loneliness through location portraiture. I intend to create a series of long-exposure shots in busy locations to show how, even in a crowd, someone facing stigma can feel isolated and invisible. This will also help to illustrate dissociation, a common symptom of many disorders. Martin Hricko’s work successfully portrays the idea of being an onlooker to an intangible world.
Landscape Photography
Another approach I will use to convey isolation and the feeling of insignificance is landscape photography. Weather-permitting, I hope to capture images of mist rolling in over the sea. The vast ocean paired with the claustrophobia of looming fog should create an atmosphere of impending doom and helplessness. Brian Holaway has managed to stir a feeling of unease in the audience by capturing weak sunlight trying to break through the fog. As you cannot clearly see the horizon, you are left facing the unknown.
Studio Portraiture
I will use studio portraiture to explore the idea of identity. I intend to shoot both digital and film, and to utilise translucent materials or broken glass when shooting to scatter light in unpredictable ways. Using film and manipulating both the negatives and the positive prints, I hope to evoke a feeling of disconnect and depersonalisation, common in those suffering with dissociative identity disorder. I am particularly drawn to the work of both Katie Crawford and Michal Macku. Though their approaches are different, they both use portraits to show their internal struggles with mental illness and sense of identity. Crawford creates her images using props and digital editing, whereas Macku tends to distort his images through physical manipulation of gelatin.
Social Documentary and Still-Life Photography
To depict the differences between the outward persona and the reality lived behind closed doors, I will look at both social documentary and still-life photography. I would like to shadow a person through their daily activities and normal life. This will illustrate the fact that you cannot know what someone is going through just by looking at them, and that people with ill mental health are simply normal people. Just because a person has a mental health condition doesn’t mean they cannot feel joy, and it doesn’t mean that they can’t lead a normal, happy life. However, the fact that they are the same as everybody else doesn’t diminish the struggles they face internally. I will use still-life photography to demonstrate the anguish people often feel when dealing with medication, relapses, and obtrusive thoughts. I intend to use objects such as pills, remnants of a binge, and chaotic diaries filled with a person’s attempts to manage their thoughts. John Keedy’s “It’s Hardly Noticeable” series explores both the visible and hidden situations navigated by someone with an anxiety disorder. Similarly, Tracey Emin’s “My Bed” highlights the hidden world inside her bedroom. Seeing how somebody lives can give a real insight into the way their thoughts and feelings affect their everyday lives. Often, people with conditions such as depression look like they have everything under control, but are secretly struggling. I hope to capture this dichotomy through my work.
1 - Hricko, M. 2015, Ghosts, viewed 29th October 2019 <https://iso.500px.com/embrace-the-blur-go-try-long-exposure-street-photography/>.
2 - Holaway, B. 2019, Heavy Sea Fog, viewed 29th October 2019 <https://www.captainbrianonthewater.com/heavy-sea-fog/>.
3 - Crawford, K. 2015, My Anxious Heart, viewed 24th October 2019 <https://katiejoycrawford.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/my-anxious-heart/>.
4 - Macku M. 2014, Gellages, viewed 24th October 2019 <http://www.michal-macku.eu/image/122>.
5 - Keedy J. 2019, It’s Hardly Noticeable, viewed 24th October 2019 <http://www.johnwilliamkeedy.com/itshardlynoticeable/#prettyPhoto>.
6 - Emin, M. 1998, My Bed, viewed 29th October 2019 <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/emin-my-bed-l03662>.
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