Shoot 9 - Hiding - Work Record

Date: 14/04/16

Plans for shoot:
In this shoot, I am going to combine the idea of lost identity with hiding all relating to my mental illness theme for my exam. I have chosen to do this because I have previously done a hiding shoot and I was pleased with my results and I also think the message and connotations that these pictures have relate a lot to this theme. I will shoot someone hiding areas of their face and body behind various things like their hair, hands, curtains and stairs.

What I wish to achieve:
I wish to get pictures that are better than the ones I did in my previous hiding shoot to show a development. I want these pictures to show connotations of how people with anxiety and depression feel so alone and lost of themselves that they feel hidden and detached from the rest of the world. This is related to how many people wouldn't be able to recognise these illness' because they are mental rather than physical, so people often overlook the consequences, so the people suffering would often feel like no one understands.

What I actually achieved:
I got various pictures all of which show the model hiding herself in different ways. The ways I think worked best were the ones where she was hiding behind her hands and behind a curtain. I edited my straight images and made them all black and white because my research on mental illness photography shows how many photographers work only in black and white. In my opinion, this helps build a strong representation of how sufferers feel drained of life and happiness and a lot of brightly coloured pictures often connate with happy emotions. I was pleased with how they looked in black and white and I think they I will stay with this idea and do my exam shoots and last shoot in black and white.

I liked this picture because I think as well as it shows her 'hiding' which was the theme of this shoot, I think it also shows entrapment; the idea that sufferers feel like they cannot escape their own mind. Furthermore, I like the dark tones that overpower the models body making her look more like a silhouette, this to me, adds a bit of surrealism to the picture as we cannot see a lot of her, just an outline. I also like the tonal differenced in the pattern on the curtain, how the right side is very highlighted then gradually gets darker. I think this makes the pattern stand out quite a lot which I think has a nice effect against her body as it shows clearly that she is behind it.

I think the best part of this picture is how I have used the focus to only catch her eye and the left side of the picture is very blurred. I emphasised this effect using the tilt shift in photoshop. I think this has drawn all the attention to her eye. Her eye to me, is what stands out the most in this picture as it is the only part of her face that isn't hidden. This adds personality as the eyes are seen to show an insight into the soul and character. So by being able to look into her eyes, its almost like we have an insight into her suffering.


What I am going to do next:
For my last shoot, I am going to try some physical experiments, so I will take some portraits and then try different techniques to manipulate them.