For this project on identity and community I want to explore mental health and how it is a part of my identity. It matters to me because mental health has brought me together with my friends and family but has also been the reason to lose family and friends. With my project I want to explore anxiety, depression, bulimia and borderline personality disorder. I want to explore Francesca Woodman’s and Edward Honaker’s work as their work focuses on mental health which I Found would be a good fit for my project. With past projects I used a slow shutter speed which I found very interesting to explore which can be seen in both Francesca Woodman’s and Edward Honaker’s work.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a disorder which effects how the persons mood and interaction with others. Symptoms of this are: emotional instability, disturbed patterns of thinking or perception, impulsive behaviour and intense but unstable relationships with others. Most conditions of BPD result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Bulimia is an eating disorder with episodes of binge eating and self-induced vomiting. Anxiety is a feeling of unease such as worry or fear these can range from mild to severe. Lastly depression is low mood which can last for weeks or months which can effect daily life.

With these mental health disorders I want to show in my work as I find they have become part of my life with myself, family and friends experiencing these. I want to use that for my photobook showing the progress of these mental health disorders showing how they can get better but suddenly drop back to struggling again. In the book I want to start with a bold photo stating the mental health disorders as these thing can suddenly happen after a traumatic situation which can lead to years of struggle.

Formalism (Paper Project) – The first project we started was based on formalism. We scrunched up a piece of paper and took photos experimenting with colour, shadows and perspective. I learnt how you can’t just take a few images and them all be good, but you have to take hundreds in different lighting, shapes, angles and colours which in the end gives you a handful of good images.

Expressionism (The World is Beautiful) – The next project we did was about Albert Renger-Patzsch and the World Is Beautiful. For this I went out and took photos around town in black and white. I learnt how black and white creates drama and how different tones can be used to make an image exciting. This project really inspired me and interested me to use black and white in further projects.

Photomontage – Another project I enjoyed doing was the photomontage project. I enjoyed it because it increased my understanding and ability in photoshop. I took many photos of my friend in different lightings and cut out the facial features from myself and my friends. I then put them on top of a background image of a face which then altered the appearance of the original image. I first made one out of celebrities but then out of my friends.

Multi-Exposure – I also enjoyed the multi-exposure project for the same reason as photomontage. I used photoshop to get a few images of the same person in different lighting, position or facial expression and put them on top of each other. I changed the colour of two of the images so they represented old 3d glasses with one side blue and the other side red.

Landscape (Rural and Romanticism) – I enjoyed the landscape project because it introduced me to a different way of taking photos. I went out to take photos to beauport bay with my friend Matthew Brown. We took photos of the waves, the cliffs and the view of St Brelades bay. I took inspiration from Ansel Adams and took my images in colour but made them black and white. I believe black and white is a better medium for photos as it simplifies the image but makes it more exciting with tones.

New Topographic – The new topographic project was my favourite project I completed during my time studying photography. The project allowed me to combine my favourite parts of photography including, landscape in an urban environment, as well as black and white photography and using photoshop to edit my images. I studied a photographer called Lewis Baltz who used lines and high contrasts in tonal values. My outcome from the project was one of the best outcomes I have had from a project.

Anthropocene – The Anthropocene project also helped me with developing my photography skills. I studied two photographers one called Gerry Johansson who focused on photography including high contrast in tonal ranges. The other photographer is called Andy Hughes who focused on photographing plastic waste in relation to pollution. I got to take black and white photos with a good contrast in tones and colourful images with high contrast of plastic waste on beaches.

Best Photoshop Edits

Paul M Smith Photography Project – Make My Night

Following the success of Artists Rifles, Paul re-joined the discourse with the masculine identity in Make My Night. Ostensibly a record of a very laddish night out, Paul used a similar technical method to that of the previous series combined with the use of multiple self-portraits. As before, he becomes the anonymous everyman but this time is more overtly the narrator as well as the protagonist of a frequently observed ritual – here

Governed by group approval and time honoured rites, a world of bravado and sexual tension vies with drunken frivolity and a certain vulnerability to occlude any notion of a new masculinity. From the preamble of high jinks and drinking games, to bar fights and stand offs through to its nauseous conclusion, each scene has been painstakingly researched and detailed – here

This style of photography caught my eye because of the ‘in the moment’ feel of them. They appear to be ‘professionally un-professional’ in the sense that some aspects are blurry, out of focus or over/under exposed. But these ‘un-professional’ aspects add a character to the photograph that makes it unique and captures the ‘vibe’ of the room at the time, hectic and busy.

About Paul M Smith

Paul M Smith was born in 1969 in England and is a British photographer and educator.

He studied fine art at Coventry University from 1991 to 1995. After completing his degree he completed a masters degree in photography at the Royal College of Art. Whilst studying he explored the meaning and construction of masculinity, focusing on the creation of various ‘alpha male’ identities.