Final Images: Still Life

I find shrinking down possible finals sometimes a little difficult. If you take alot of photographs and there are a bulk that stand out, how do you choose which are the best? For me I have to print them out, blue tac them to a wall and sometimes a pair of fresh eyes can help. On more than one occasion I have had the photographs up on the walls for a few days uming and ahing which ones to have as finals.

I have whittled down 4 of my favourite finals for the narrative project.

Sex:

Reading:

Medication:

Death:

 

In the end I think this project has done a loop around and reflects upon myself, although many others can relate to it. I was hoping to make this generalised, rather than personal. Even still I am pleased with how the photographs have turned out.

Sex is a reflection upon myself and my fiancee and our relationship.

Reading reflects upon my love for reading. In the words of C.S. Lewis “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

Medication reflects upon being on  anti-depressants, the emotions and struggles.

Death, this can be viewed in a number of different ways. From my perspective it symbolised what the medication has done to me. I feel almost dead inside, in some respects it is nice, in others it is terrifying. Another way to look at it is my innate fear of death, which has only grown worse in the past few years. I am not so much scared of my own death, more those’s that I love around me and how I do not deal well with it.

2 positives and 2 negatives, a symbolism of what it is like inside my brain, even though there are equal amounts of both for me, the negatives out way the positives.

But how does the bed roll into this? For the past 2-3 years it has been a daily struggle to get out of bed, to be honest it has been a struggle to complete this unit. My bed is both my safe place and my prison, once again a positive and a negative. The bed, unlike the video, is not the main focal point. I wanted to take a step back from the bed, however still have it within the photographs. All of the finals subjects are things that we or I do on a bed. But I wanted the objects themselves to take the main focal point.

This my narrative …

 

 

Shoot 2: Still Life

Here are some of my favourite shots from the 2nd shoot. Out of all of them I think the most successful are the underwear and corset shots, the lighting, texture of the clothing and the contrast play very nicely together. They almost remind me of adverts.

 I think for this photography I should have boosted up the contrast, it is a little too soft, however the photography has a dream like sense to it

Concept: Mr Anxiety

For as long as I can remember, like many others, I have suffered with Anxiety. But explaining how it effects you to someone who doesn’t have it and the addition of not the skill of talking about one’s self … how do you explain it?

The last 2 years, whilst at Uni, my anxiety has been creeping his way back into my life (never truly leaving). These 2 years have been hard. Faced with new challenges. New people. New Friends. Old enemies. Within these 2 years i have finally found a way to show my anxiety without talking about it. This is in the form of Mr Anxiety, the demon on my shoulder, my sins, loss, panic … my anxiety.

I find myself drawing him in many places, but it always depends on my mood. To begin with I simply thought it had something to do with my love for monsters. But a personality began to grow. As well as timing. I only draw him when something is on my mind, I am not in control of something. For example: the image above was drawn when people I valued as friends turned away. Another example: Today, 23rd January 2014 is my Grandmothers birthday who passed away almost 2 years ago. A month after I started uni. I don’t cope well with death, and I still haven’t come to terms with her departure. It has actually made me more fearful. I fear the time when my nan has to go. View image below –

It is a little strange looking back in my work books and seeing this figure dotted all over the pages.

Whilst looking through my folders, note books and sketch books, I realised that I could make some work out of him. I would like to research other artists that have used mix media, drawing on to their work, revealing something behind them. For me, it will be a reflection of Anxiety. Project theme: Life. Keeps it broad. The Narrative, my life, my Mr Anxiety.