A representation of what it felt like to experience depression and anxiety.
A paragraphs:
A primarily surrealistic representation of my feelings during, what I’ve since dubbed as, the worst year of my life. Drawing inspiration from the works of Francesca Woodman and Mark Ellen Mark’s Ward 81, this book looks at both the emotional and physical aspects of depression and anxiety.
Design: Consider the following:
How you want your book to look and feel:
The book will focus on a darker theme to fit with its images. Grey will be
Paper and ink:
Premium matte paper.
Format, size and orientation:
A4, Portrait.
Binding and cover:
Hard Back binding. Image wrap on cover.
Title:
My book will remain untitled. This is a choice I made to symbolise the subjectivity of mental illness as it can vary for different people and I didn’t want people who couldn’t relate to the title to disregard the rest of the book.
Design and layout:
It is important to me that my book is somewhat visually pleasing. There’s an element of peace and acceptance to my images that my book needs to be consistent with. To do this I will use black and white to follow the themes of my images. These colours when used together can symbolise the sadness present while also removing colour that can often be associated with joy.
Editing and sequencing:
As previously mentioned, My book needs to be somewhat visually pleasing. Another way to achieve this is with the sequencing of my images. The book will follow a pattern; An environmental portrait -> A collection of images with the same theme -> A head shot style image. This will be repeated throughout the book.
Images and text:
There will be no text to accompany the images. I had thought about adding text to further create a personal feel to the images. However, I hadn’t written down my feelings at the time and I didn’t want to add in words that may be tainted by hindsight.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative.
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.
Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others. Use of captions (if any.)
OUT OF THE BLUE, Virginie Rebetez.
Book in hand:
The book isn’t heavy to hold, instead it’s weight fits its size. The cover has a rough feel to it and it has that new book smell.
Paper and Ink:
Most of the book is in colour. The pages are smoother than the cover and have a very slight glossy look to them. At the back of the book when the photos end, the paper changes. It becomes pink, showing photocopies of police reports and other legal documents. Black markers have been used to censor any private information.
Format:
A4 size portrait.
Binding:
Hardcover binding.
Cover:
Linen cover. Gives the book texture. The cover has a wrap around image of the side of Suzanne’s face.
Title:
OUT OF THE BLUE. The title refers to an event that occur without warning or provocation, specifically the disapearence of Suzanne Lyall.
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)
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.
Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. (2019), Photography Decoded. London: Octopus Publishing House.
‘…, the red velvet evokes theatre curtains, within which the beautiful drama would unfold.’
‘The question arises: If manipulation is the first thing someone thinks of in connection to photography, what does that say about the value of a photograph as a reflection on reality?’
‘The process of manipulation starts as soon as we frame a person, a landscape, an object or a scene with our cameras.’
‘… it is not just photography that is complicated, but the concepts of realism and reality, too.’
Like Francesca Woodman, I took all my images as self-portraits. This was partly out of convenience, but also to give my images a more personal feel to them. Mental illness is a very individual thing in the sense that everyone experiences it slightly differently. I felt that self- portraits would be a good way to show this. I wanted my images to show a certain ‘madness,’ while also showing the severity of a mental illness such as depression. I want people to see how unpredictable mental illness can make you, which is why the images show a clear darkness, but some also show me having ‘fun.’
Similarly to Woodman, I wanted to show the lack of identity that is often felt by those who suffer from depression, myself included. I remember feeling like I just blended in with everyone else and while people heard me they never really listened. This led to my decision to imitate Woodman by using long exposure times to blur any movements I made whilst in front of the camera. This often gave me a ghostly look that frequently blurred my features, such as my face, resulting in the somewhat removal of my true identity.
Technical:
To capture the images I used a long exposure time of 2 seconds. I set my camera to capture 9 images with 2 seconds between each one.
During editing, I wanted to give my images a ghost-like look. To do this I adjusted to exposure to as high as I could and adjusted the blacks and shadows to make them stand out more and look more harsh. Finally, I made the images black and white. This was again to mimic Woodman’s work, but to also add to the darker tone of the images.
Image One:
Before
After
Context/Concept:
This image represents the ‘madness’ and lack of control often felt during a depressive episode. This image shows that mental illness can make you want to do things that in the right mind you would never give a second thought to, including self harming.
Visual:
This image shows me staring at a flame produced by a lighter. The lack of emotion on my face shows the seriousness behind my near decision to use the lighter.
Image Two:
Before
After
Context/Concept:
The idea I had behind this image was to demonstrate the flip side of depression. While mental illness is an ongoing condition, it is possible to have good days or even a few hours in which everything seems alright again. This is what I wanted this image to represent. It was common for me to find a sense of freedom in music. I listened to it when I was sad, angry or happy. It was a way to block out everything else and when I was alone, I would blast my favourite songs through the house and dance in the living room. The joy music brought never lasted very long, but I knew I needed it to make it to the end of the day.
Visual:
In this image I can been seen letting loose. I took this image while listening to The Vaccines and doing the air guitar and I can been seen wearing headphones whilst going so. I choose to wear headphones for the image as it best represents how I usually listen to music. I spent a lot of time in my room, on my own and I was afraid that if anyone else heard the music, they would realise what was wrong with me.
Like most of my images inspired by Francesca Woodman, my face is blurred. This mimics the lack of identity in Woodman’s images, but it also represents the persistent nature of depression. This image shows me having a bit of fun, however the burred nature of my features shows that I’m still ill; that my mental illness will rear it’s feared head at any moment. This is something that I sometimes still feel today. It’s gone for now.
Image Three:
Before
After
Untitled, Rome. (1977-78)
Context/Concept:
This image was supposed to be a recreation of one of Francesca Woodman’s images. Woodman’s image gives the impression that she is trying to almost defy gravity. Perhaps, she feels tied down and is looking for an escape. At the time of the shoot, Woodman was staying in Rome. This could suggest that the images represents a new freedom from her family and the freedom of becoming an adult. However, while I like Woodman’s possible idea behind the image, I wasn’t sure that it was right for what I wanted to show. Instead I wanted my image to give the impression that I’m not really here.
Visual:
In my image you can see almost three of me holding up my hair as if pinned to the wall. I used long exposure to create the ghostly break from reality seen by the two other outlines of myself.
Compare Francesca Woodman and Mary Ellen Mark’s representation/documentation of mental illness.
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Mental illness.
Surrealism (Francesca Woodman).
Francesca Woodman (Surrealism, Long exposure, Self-portrait, feminism, depression).
Mary Ellen Mark (Ward 81, Karen Jacobs, documentation, 1970s mental hospital).
Compare a personal view and ‘outsider’s perspective.’
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Surrealism.
Staged.
Documentary.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Francesca Woodman.
On Being An Angel.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Mary Ellen Mark.
Ward 81.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced.
