• Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. Or think more philosophically about the nature of photography and and feeble relationship with reality.
• You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g.
• What are you going to investigate.
• How does this area/ work interest you?
• What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument?
• Whose work (artists/photographers) are you analysing and why?
• What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within. Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against.
• What links are there with your previous studies?
• What have you explored so far in your Coursework or what are you going to photograph?
• What camera skills, techniques or digital processes in Photoshop have or are you going to experiment with?

Compare Francesca Woodman and Mary Ellen Mark’s representation/documentation of mental illness.

Bibliography:

• Author’s surname (year), Title of document. Location of site: website address (URL)
• Cooke (2014), Searching for the real Francesca Woodman. The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/31/searching-for-the-real-francesca-woodman

Introduction:

For me, photography is a way to express perhaps more negative emotions in a non-judgmental medium. Perhaps people interpret the meaning in the wrong way, but the act of capturing the image gives a sense of control over the emotion behind it. That’s part of the reason that I wanted to explore mental illness via photography. After struggling with depression and anxiety in the past and at the time not really having a way to express how I was feeling, I wanted to explore and remember past emotions to educate others on mental illness, while additionally finding a new way for me to cope in the future. I am particularly fascinated by the work of Francesca Woodman. The young photographer was herself suffering from depression and her images are often seen to reflect this as a result of her suicide. Woodman’s images have a very personal feel to them. This is because she elected to photograph herself. George Woodman told The Guardian, “She was concentrating on the picture. That was why she didn’t want people around. She didn’t want any distractions.” (Cooke 2014). I find myself agreeing with this statement as I, too, prefer working alone without others getting my way. I also intent to mirror Woodman’s choice and use myself as the subject for my images. Individuality is important when it comes to mental illness; no one experiences it in quite the same way. Woodman expresses her illness in a way that is very personal to her and its interesting to gather an understanding of someone else’s experiences. However, I also wanted to see how people, who have never experienced severe mental illness, view mental illness. Mary Ellen Mark spent 36 days inside Oregon State Hospital on Ward 81. Mark was tasked with photographing the ward’s occupants along with journalist, Karen Jacobs who wrote a piece on their experience.