For my final project I was thinking of creating a couple of series of images for each topic that I have researched. I want to do two separate series for my work on lunacy as this is the one that I have looked at most in depth and is the most interesting to me. I also want to create a mini series influenced by Victor Barker and make it seem like stills from a silent film. I also might do something on witches or on hidden mothers. I have drawn my inspiration mainly from Duane Michals series that he creates, they are very simple but the entire mise-en-scene of his images makes them so intriguing. I have also taken inspiration from other photographers that I have researched for each individual series. I want my work to have a clear narrative and I feel that making mini series of staged images will be the most effective way of presenting my work. I want to make my images black and white as I feel that this will make the images stand out a lot more and they will look a lot better too. I will experiment with colour and black and white to see what looks best in the end. I want to make all of my mini series seem film-like as that is something I have a real interest in and want to incorporate this into my photography work. I feel that this will give an overall better effect to the images and make them more visually pleasing for my spectators to look at.

Series 1 | Lunacy

The first sequence of staged images that I have created is based on a story that I found out about a local lunatic that lived on the island in the late 1800s. The woman’s name was Jane Le Maistre and she was kept chained to an outhouse and neglected by those who were supposed to look after her. She sat in the stance of a monkey and could not use the lower part of her body, meaning that she was in some ways froze in her position and could not go to the toilet for herself. Even with this those who were supposed to care for her left her naked with a small coarse sheet over her. I wanted to recreate this to show the harshness and neglect that this woman faced because people didn’t understand her and they did not understand her illness. I also found out that she became very known by other islanders and professionals were sent round to check on her and when they arrived she miraculously had cut hair and was clean, covered in plenty of blankets with a bucket next to her where she went to the toilet. I wanted to create a series of staged images where my subject starts with nothing and with each photograph a new item appears or something about her appearance changes slightly. I wanted to put emphasis on how suddenly everything was fine and she looked a lot healthier than the actual conditions she had been left in for so long. For this series I took inspiration from Duane Michals and the series he makes as they are so simple yet effective. I also took inspiration from a photograph of Mary Ellen Mark that really stood out to me and helped me to adapt to the persona that I have created.

Series 2 | Lunacy

When I met up with photographer Tom Killick to look at his asylum images I found came across a really interesting on. I also thought that there wouldn’t be much point in trying to go to the asylum to make images as the building is a lot more modern than anticipated and is off limits to the public anyway. The one image that I found really captured my attention was one of a drawing of a tree that a patient had drawn in their room. I found this so intriguing and it really made me wondered what kind of troubled soul lived inside that room. As there would be no way to find out who lived in that room and what their mental illness was I decided to create my own narrative and come up with a story myself. I want to recreate this drawing of the tree in a plain and dirty room. I want to record this process of how this persona has created their art work. I will be staging this and dress as the subject. I think this will work out well and I could even make a little short film from it as well as take stills away too. I find it so interesting how this person felt the need to express themselves and their feelings in some way that they decided it would be best to draw all over the walls. Something about Killick’s image that also interested me was that the drawing wasn’t finished, it was as if the person maybe died or gave up or that could have been the time that the asylum was left and abandoned. I am aware that I could produce something almost cliche or cheesy with this which I do not want to do but again this is what the patient was drawing and I can only try to imagine and express what they must have been feeling. To me this drawing is a sense of freedom, they want to go to a place where their mind can be free. I did notice that the tree has no leaves and doesn’t look particularly bright or uplifting but then again the drawing was never finished so I can’t possibly guess whether or not the patient was going to add that in or not. I really do love this image and want to create a decent body of work to go with it and to really have a great series for a final outcome as well as possibly making a short film.

Series 3 | Lunacy

I wanted to put a lot of focus of my work on lunacy and the research that I have done for this particular subject. I have found it to be the most intriguing and so want to make this series of images. I read about a story of a man whose apprentice appearing in front of him in a white sheet and the man was scared out of his wits and never recovered. I found this to be a really odd situation but I guess it was in the late 1800s and people weren’t really as exposed to horror or anything like that but again it is strange. I wanted to recreate this with myself as the subject as I think that this could work out well. It will be a very simple series taking influence from the simplicity aspect of Duane Michals. This could work out really well, I will be making the images black and white also.

Series 4 | Colonel Victor Barker

For this shoot I am still unsure as what to do but I think that I want to base a mini series on the story of Colonel Victor Barker who lived on the island in the early 1920s. I think that I will make a simple mini series where I am the subject. I will be dressed in more feminine clothing and then change into a suit and put a pillow under my belly to make myself look bigger. I think that this could be an interesting shoot and brings a visual representation of what kind of transition Barker went through as he never actually had the surgery to get the right bits. I want to do this shoot next to a window but have the entire mise-en-scene of the series to be very minimal so that the focus is maintained on the subject and what the subject is doing rather than anything else. I think that this shoot could work out well as I have taken inspiration from Duane Michals and how simple his images and sequences are. I don’t want this shoot to seem like I am taking the mick out of transgender people because I am not. I am trying to create a simple series based on the story of Victor Barker and how the transition of someone in the early 1900s differs from that of modern day. I find that transitions back then were really difficult as less people understood transgender people and so it was more hidden and new identities were made and people had to try and change their own voices and clothing without any kind of medical procedure as there wasn’t anything available for them to go through the full transition.

Series 5 | Hidden Mother

I really like the idea of Hidden Mothers and find it so strange and creepy but it intrigues me. I want to venture into this further but am unsure how I would do so successfully. I don’t want to make rubbish images that aren’t strong enough but think that a series would look good if I figure out what to do. I am unsure how I could stage a series of images for this shoot as often the portraits are just one image but I have just thought that maybe I could make a series of the behind the scenes process of making one of these images and have the whole set up and the before and after making the image. This could be really interesting for the spectator to see as they get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. I feel that this could look really good as a mini series for a final outcome.

Series 6 | Witchcraft

After researching into witchcraft I figured that I could make a mini series on one of the methods that people used to use to be able to tell whether someone is a witch or not. I feel that this could be really interesting to visualise instead of just having it written down or as research. I want to create a mini series of images where my subject is being trialled as a witch. I think that I want to reconstruct a scenario in a woodland area of a with being trialed and attempted to be drowned. I want to make a series of images that tell the story showing one of the ways that people were trialed for witchcraft as I find it so strange. I wanted to focus on one particular method, the drowning one. For this series I want to start off in a woods were a woman’s head is being dunked into a river as her hands are tied behind her back and after a few different shots and images I want to have a shot of a cliff from far away were the spectator can just see the silhouette of the woman and someone holding her at the edge of the cliff as if they are able to push her off.