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.