Photographer Research - Christian Sampson

Christian Sampson is a 21 year old photographer from Peru who took an advanced photography class and one of his projects was based around mental illness. He was inspired by this theme because he wanted to create pictures that a lot of people could relate to, and portray something that cannot be seen. He got his friends to model for him and he studied and researched many different mental disorders. "These were touchy subjects so I did rigorous research to make sure I depicted it accurately," he says.

The disorders that he featured were: panic, tourettes, OCD, paranoia, anxiety, bipolar, addiction, depression, schizophrenia, anorexia, autism and insomnia.

I really like the way how each disorder is represented differently, this shows the depth of research he has done into each one, so he could efficiently portray the sufferers perception. I also like the abstract qualities that his work has as he has manipulated them in various ways to make them look a bit surreal. 


Here are 4 examples of my favourite works from him:
Anxiety-

Denotations:
the back of a girl scratching a wall with vein like streaks spreading across the wall.
Connotations:
I like how the streaks on the wall, to me, represent the chaos and sheer mess that anxiety can cause to individuals. I think because they look very messy and combined, this supports that connotation. I really like the effect this has on the picture because it is like a visual representation of the illness. I like the way they stand out against the white wall because they are very dark.

Depression-

Denotations-
a girl that appears to be pushing against water and screaming. She appears to be trapped.
Connotations-
I like the way we can see her suffering, I think it has quite a powerful impact on the picture because we can clearly see the distress in her face. I think the way her hands are placed give the trapped effect on this picture; as if she is pushing against the surface of the water, like she is trapped inside her own mind.







Schizophrenia-

Denotations-
a girl burying her head in her hands with her hair covering her face. The background shows hands trying to claw out and it appears like they are trying to reach her.
Connotations-
The way she is burying her head and she is straining her hands, I think this shows a deep emotional suffering. And I really like the way this picture has been edited to make the background full of clawing streaks and hands which shows a grabbing motion. This represents the unease and constant struggle that comes with this condition.






OCD-
Denotations-
A girl amongst clocks that are all placed at exactly the same time. She is changing the time on one of the clocks to match the other clocks.
Connotations- 
This shows a conceptual message of how OCD gives the sufferer an unwanted need to constantly perform mundane tasks multiple times a day for no reason. I like the use of shadows in this picture and I also like how the focus us on the girl in the middle and the outer clocks are slightly blurred. This draws our attention to her.