Photographer Research - Nicolas Bruno

Nicolas Bruno is a photographer from Northport, New York. He suffers from a condition called sleep paralysis, in which you stuck in a half awake, half asleep state, meaning you can see your real surroundings, but you also see things that are part of your imagination like you would in a dream. He has been suffering from the condition since he was 15 years old, and he says that it took a huge toll on his mental health during his sixteenth year. Now, however, he says that he manages to keep himself sane, and uses what experiences during sleep paralysis as an inspiration for his photographs, which contain surreal imagery that mixes the real world with hallucination-like elements.

This image is a typical image by Nicolas Bruno, as it bears many traits of his work. The image is exactly square, which is different to the typical rectangular shape and 3:2 aspect ratio of most photographs. It also bears themes and visual tropes that Bruno uses a lot throughout his work. The man in the picture is wearing a suit and has a blindfold on, which is imagery that appears frequently throughout his work. The blindfold could suggest him being not in control of what happens to him during his sleep paralysis, as you can't control what you can't see happening. The image shows the man in a blindfold sitting on a chair in front of a table in the middle of what appears to be a swamp. A flaming chair is seen above the table, in mid air as if it has been thrown at him. The chair could represent chaos, as it is in mid air and on fire. The chair I would say specifically represents the chaos you experience during sleep paralysis. The location used in this image I feel is also significant. The natural location they used to shoot and the fact they used objects like table and chairs creates connotations of him being out of his depth when he is experiencing sleep paralysis.

This image bears some similarities to the other image, being taken in a natural location with elements of civilization incorporated into the image. It has also uses the square aspect ratio that is typical of Bruno's work. The image shows a man in a suit, who is tied to a chair and has a bag over his head, running away from other men in suits who are chasing him. This image is far less bright than the previous image, as the colours appear to have been muted, giving the image a very bleak atmosphere. The fact he is tied to the chair suggests that he is trapped in this half dream. half awake state, but as he is running while attached to it, which suggests he is trying to escape from being in this state. The people who are chasing him could be interpreted as a visual representation of his sleep paralysis, which he is trying to escape.

This image is slightly different in composition to the other images by Bruno. This lacks the running imagery of the suit. The image shows the surface of a lake with three wooden ladders emerging from it. On the middle ladder  there is a man who is climbing it and emerging from the water. His grip on the ladder rungs is loose, suggesting his grip on reality is loose, as he is in his state of sleep paralysis, in which he experiences warped reality. There is also some mist on the surface of the water. This mist creates a sense of mystery, in this case regarding what the ladders are there for and why the man is climbing up one and emerging from the lake. Like the other images taken by Bruno, it was taken in a forest. I think he choose to photograph in these natural locations as they represent wildness and being at the will of nature, which links to his condition in which he is at the will of his mind, trapped in a dream like state and unable to escape.

This is another image that is completely differently composed. This one contains far less than the previous images, being taken from a very far away perspective. The image simply shows a big hill with a figure wearing a cape at the top. It looks as if it was taken at dawn or dusk, and the location was very foggy and overcast when the picture was taken. The top is mostly flat and plain, apart from some trees and there is a silhouetted figure wearing a cape at the top of it. The fog has connotations of mystery, which is in the image perhaps to represent Bruno's confusion as to what this scene means during his dream sequence. Also, there are lots of very muted colours in this image, which have connotations of despair and death, creating a very dark mood for this image. The image has been taken from a very long shot perspective from the subject, which makes it very impersonal and withdraws the audience from that person, as we are trying to figure out who they are and what they mean instead of understanding their meaning and who they are.

Nicolas Bruno has influenced my work as I want to capture the colour palettes and dark moods and atmospheres that he captures in his images. I also like his use of lots of different shot types and perspectives, which is something I would like to incorporate in my shoots.

Shoot Two - Edits

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Photographer research - Marwah Al-Mulgait

 http://www.marwahalmugait.com/#!mood-diary/clcg
Marwah Al-Mulgait is Saudi Arabian photographer who mainly takes photo documentary photographs that implement close up and intimate portraits that tend to capture private moments in people's lives. She originally was a commercial photographer, however began to develop an artists style before moving to taking photo journalistic photographs. Her series entitled "The Mood Diary" is a series of five images that depict a woman's battle with bipolar disorder in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This is one of the images from Marwah's "The mood Diary" series, which depicts a woman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and her struggle with Bipolar disorder. This image I felt was good and relevant to my topic of mental health as it depicts the pain and despair people with mental disorders experience. The image shows two arms, with their hands very tightly gripping a pale pink bed sheet. They look as if they are being pulled away but are trying to resist it, which could be a metaphor for trying to avoid your depression and beat it. The colour of the bed sheet is also a significant part of this image. The sheet is pink, which is a colour that represents love, innocence and affection. However, the sheet is a muted shade of pink, and muted colours represent depressed moods and sadness, so the combination of using a colour associated with positive moods but using a muted shade could suggest that she is trying to feel love, innocence and affection but it is being made difficult by her depression.

 

This image is from the same series as the last image, and depicts the same woman who was the subject matter of the last image. This is another image that actually shows part of the woman the series is about, however this image shows some of what she is wearing, from  which we can draw connotations. She is wearing a silk fitting dress, which appears to have a floral pattern on it in saturated colours. The colours and patterns on her dress could be a reminder to her that she can still be happy and that there is still hope for beating her depression. The picture has been taken of the subject's feet from the shins down, and her feet are slightly levitating from the bed covers. This could imply that she feels disconnected from the world outside her mind because of her difficulty to feel emotions that others feel. Additionally, Marwah has used a strip of natural lighting to suggest that there is still some hope for her beating her depression.

This one. however, doesn't feature the woman who is the subject of this series, but rather an object associated with her. The image shows the headboard of what is likely her bed. The headboard is made of the pale green cushions, and there are two pillows on either side of the bed. The colour of the headboards is significant as green is a colour that represents growth and harmony. We could guess that she chose this colour as a remind her that she can grow into a stronger person, and that it is still possible for her to live in harmony with her mental illness and control it. Additionally, we can get connotations from the layout of the bed. The right side looks as if it hasn't been slept on, suggesting that she is a person who lives by routine, only sleeping on the left side. Finally, this one is much brighter in lighting compared to the previous image, so this image creates a much more hopeful mood than the previous image that implemented a small strip of light, and left the rest of the image in darkness.

The image above is another photo from the series that uses the imagery of bed covers to get across a key theme of the series. This image is by far the simplest in composition, as it contains no objects or people, but just the bedcovers. It has been taken from a bird's eye view and implements a similar lighting style to the image of the woman's feet in the dress; she uses natural lighting to light up half of the mattress and leaves the other half in complete darkness. The use of a simple diagonal divide between the lit section and the dark section creates a sense of chaos, as diagonal lines have connotations of this. The light and dark sections represent the hope of beating and overcoming her depression and the depression and mental illness itself. There are also some flowers printed on the bed sheet, which are another symbol of hope. They create a contrasting mood to the plain white cloth with the simple dark and light sections.

Shoot One - Edit

Shoot Two - Straight images

Shoot Two - Contact Sheet

Shoot One - Straight Images

Shoot One - Contact Sheet

Research log

This image is by Edward Honaker. I found this photo here. 

Edward Honaker is a twenty one year old photographer who suffers from depression and anxiety. This  image is from a group of images that are supposed to represent what it feels like to be depressed. This image shows Honaker's reflection in a mirror, however, his face has been blurred, possibly by overlaying a different picture of his face taken from a different angle on top. The blurred face is meant to suggest that depression creates a confusion of identity; you don't quite understand who you are anymore and your thoughts get blurred and forgotten.

This is another image by Edward Honaker that I got from here. This image shows Honaker laying down on the floor with his arm over his face in the middle of what appears to be a white void. It was taken from far away from the subject so that there is lots of white negative space in the image and Honaker appears small in comparison to the background. The white empty background suggests that depression leaves your mind blank of all emotional and thought. Also the background being much larger than him connotes that his mental illness is a tall order to beat and is a very large obstacle.

This image is another Edward Honaker image that I got from here. This one creates a similar effect to the image above; it portrays depression as a force that leaves you feeling trapped and lost. The image pictures Honaker waist deep in a river with a balloon in his hand. He is standing towards the edge of the river, which suggests he is just in the process of walking into it. The fact he has only just starting to walk into it connotes that this depicts the moment just as a person has starting to give up.  Also, the fact he is holding a balloon i feel is a significant element of this image. The balloon has connotations of hope and happiness, which suggests that this is Honaker's sign  that there may still be hope in his life, and that he may not be giving up.

This is a from a series of images by photographer Melissa Spitz, in which she documented her mother's journey through the several mental illness she suffered over the years.

http://time.com/3850733/navigating-a-mothers-mental-illness-through-photography/

This image was taken by Melissa Spitz, and shows her mother's pills in a clear packet on a plain pink background. Her Mother, Deborah, was institutionalised when Spitz was just six years old, and her diagnoses varied over the years from personality disorders to psychotic paranoia. The image is a bit different from the others by Edward Honaker as it represents an object that relates to mental illness. I think that although this image is very simple in composition, we can connote a lot from what's in the image. The background is weaved pink plastic. The dull shade of pink has connotations of calmness and relaxation, which creates a contrast in mood to the pills which represent the human mind being broken and disorganised.

This another image from Melissa Spitz' series of images on her mother's journey of mental illness. This one is in a similar style to the image of her mother's pills, as it doesn't depict a person who is suffering mental illness but shows an object that relates to and was part of her struggle with it. This image shows a letter, presumably written by Spitz' mother, which has no specific person it is addressed to. The letter appears to be a confession of her sins, in which she admits to being a "smoker, pill popper and a drunk" 

Though this has more explicit meaning than the previous image, we can still gain some connotations from it. For example, from the use of a blue pen, we can connote a sad a depressed mood from the image, which could have been one of the reasons Spitz chose to photograph this image. We can also connote that Spitz' mother was desperate when she wrote this, as her handwriting is messy and she makes lots of writing mistakes throughout the letter, many of which she crosses out vigorously.

This is another image from Melissa Spitz' project. This one is again different to the others I have featured, as they picture objects that were part of her mother's struggle with mental illness, whereas this one depicts Spitz' mother herself. The image is a mid shot portrait of her mother, who exhibits a blank expression on her face. Cover the left of her face is what appears to be some sort of white mist. The white mist could connote that she feels as if her mind has clouded over and is empty. We can also get connote that she is still trying to live a normal life and hide her mental health issues, as she is wearing make up and is in fairly formal clothing.

http://www.ackermangruber.com/trapped

This is from a series of photographs taken from the film "Trapped" by Jen Ackerman and Tim Gruber. The series depicts a prison and attempts to show that due to a lack of mental health funding, many people with mental health issues have ended up in prison instead of a mental health institute. This picture depicts one of the prisoners at the prison in a very close up portrait shot. It was taken through a wired glass window, which could be a window from his cell. The man is very close to the glass, and has a desperate and scared expression on his face. The fact he is so close to the glass suggests he is desperate to get out of where ever he is trapped, perhaps because something bad is happening on his side of the glass. The blur on his face and the overexposure of the background suggests that he was not there for that long prior to when the photographer took the picture, and that he perhaps rushed up to the window to see who was there and see if they will help him.

This is another image from Ackerman and Gruber's "Trapped" series. This one depicts another prisoner at the prison they visited, however, this man is not trapped behind a window so they can't get to him; he is sitting on some kind of chair which he is strapped to by his arms and legs and his mouth covered by a cloth which is fastened to the back of the seat. He is in a very bare white room with nobody else in it, and the floor is grey and dirty. The colours used in the room could reflect what is happening to him, as white and grey could have connotations of depression and despair. The fact he is tied to the chair could reflect his situation as a whole; being trapped in a prison when you don't belong there. Also, unlike the man in the previous image, he is not quite looking at the camera, which suggests he has given up hope and is not looking at the photographer for help, as he knows they can't help him.

This is a third image from Ackerman and Gruber's "Trapped" series. This one is similar to the first image I had used from this series in that it depicts a man trapped behind a wired glass window, with his face close to the glass and a scared expression on his face. However, this one differs from the first image as it has been taken from a far further away perspective, so that the two police officers he is looking at can fit in the frame too. The wireframe glass suggests that he is being treating like he is socially dysfunctional and dangerous, and that he may break the glass. The police officers being present also presents this, as they are there to guard him as he is not trusted to behave. Additionally, the window being very small and being the only window he has access further suggests that he is being treated like an animal because of a mental health issue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19555676

The next three images are taken from a series of images by Marwah Al-Mulgait, which depict the general subject of mental health.

Marwah Al-Mulgait's images mostly depict objects or people on a mattress or some kind of soft, cushioned surface. Objects which recur through the series are developed photographs of people. Two of the images I have feature implement developed photographs. Also, his work seems to have a trend in how it's lit; most of his work has no light on it, except from a thin strip which appears to be natural lighting, perhaps coming from a window. As this series of images depicts the life of a woman with bipolar disorder, the contrast between the strip of light could represent her the depressive part of her personality and the manic part of her personality. The use of portrait photographs is also significant, as from it we can imply that she uses them to remind herself of her true identity; the photos help her get a sense of self when she is struggling with her disorder.

http://brokenlightcollective.com/2016/03/04/faces-of-depression-2/

This is a series on mood disorders by Ella, a 23 year old who has a mood disorder that comes out in many different emotions.

Her images from this series are all self portraits, which portray different parts of her experience with a mood disorder. Her mood disorder causes her bouts of depression, anxiety and impulse control issues. This series was titled "Faces of depression", and shows the different moods she experiences. In her images she appears in a close up manner, with a mostly vacant expression on her face. Her backgrounds were not chosen with thought, rather they were whatever happened to be behind her at the time. I think she did this because she wanted to highlight that she can't control the feelings she has and she experiences them anywhere. For the image labelled "disconnected", her face is slightly out of focus, which i think she has done on purpose to imply that she is slightly disconnected from the viewer of the image.

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