Concept
The following images in my final independent project were taken over the space of a single day but we’re intended to follow the year of a university student suffering from depression and anxiety in the space of 5 independent images. After speaking to various individuals (who I will not name for privacy reasons) who have suffered from depression, I wanted to take this idea and produce, to the best of my knowledge, a visual representation of the process in which depression can occur. This initial idea eventually led up to the decision that I would base my final project around entropy which shows a lack of order or predictability and most importantly, a gradual decline into disorder.
I wanted to set up the shots in a supposedly comfortable and relaxing environment such as a home town, house or bedroom. These are all places associated with pleasure and are nice to return to after a day at work for example. However, in showing a gradual decline of organisation in these pictures, it very quickly turns a visibly and traditional comfortable environment very quickly into an extremely uncomfortable environment.
However, I must point out that the following pictures included in my final project are supposed to be viewed from a much more metaphorical perspective and are there as a visual representation of what is happening inside of someones head during the gradual decline into depression.
Influences
Different people have different ways of coping with depression, and for Edward Honaker, that coping mechanism is his self-portrait photography. His photos turn his depression into something that can be seen and, hopefully, better understood. This is where I wanted to take my inspiration for my photos from. The 21-year-old photographer was diagnosed with depression two years ago. “All I knew is that I became bad at the things I used to be good at, and I didn’t know why,”. “Your mind is who you are, and when it doesn’t work properly, it’s scary.”
images above: http://www.edwardhonaker.com/booktwo/
What initially drew me to Honaker’s images was the sheer simplicity of them. All were taken in black and white and had a running theme of using simple props in each scene (some using non at all) and using it to create a dramatic environment which effects the way you feel when looking at it. I wanted to have this same effect with a series of pictures showing not just depression, but a decline into it.
Reflection
The brief gave me an opportunity to explore an area of photography that I had no previously explored. I began by producing images of all kinds to begin building up creative ideas and joining and working these ideas together in relation to the themes of the assessment.
Looking at the final images, I wanted them not to be viewed individually, but more as a collection that tell a story. As you move from one image to the next, it’s telling a story. A story of decline. I believe the final 3 pictures tell this story best as you begin to see visual representations of how depression can occur. The headphones represent an intentional cutting off from the rest of the world. The beer cans represent a need to forget memories and personal duties. The television represents distraction and so on.
Approaching the work from a more technical point of view, I think the images came out fine but next time I would have wanted the exact same exposure and white balance on all images to remain consistent and would increase overall viewing pleasure.
