While I was taking the photograph of the mirror I thought it would be a good idea to get my friend to hold the knife and have attacker v victim of her hands. The reason behind this is because I thought it would grasp the true element of what my photographs are portraying.
I have put attacker on the hand which is holding the handle of the knife because the attacker holds the object or weapon which they are going to attack with and on the hand which is holding the blade victim this is because she will become the victim of the blade even though she is the one in control of the blade, the message was good for the photographs which I am taking.
Again the photo is in black and white because I wanted to make it classy and sophisticated which I feel black and white photography always does no matter what the photo is of, even self harming can make it look classy and presentable.
Now that I have a solid idea what I wanted to focus more on, it was time to get down to do the photographs. My friend who I am photographing is willing to help me 100% which is great and she is helping me gain an understanding of what she went through in every photograph which I have taken.
Firstly the photograph I took was in the mirror it is reflecting on what Tom Husser had photographed with his images, even though I did not want them to be the exact same I still took that idea and created something which I thought represented what I wanted to portray.
In my photograph you can see the young individual who harms herself looking at herself in the mirror, but holding a knife behind her back, this is were the victim v attacker is present because from the front she look a normal girl who has her life ahead of her, but she is also the attacker and the one who is ruining what she has in front of her, the shape of the mirror is also something which is unusual as it is a wave one, it may cause confusion to individuals which I think represents well with my project and especially my photograph.
I decided to edit the photograph and change it to black and white, black and white is something which will never go out of date but not only that but black and white is classy and sophisticated, I feel that this subject should be approached in a classy and well respected way as it is someone live which I am portraying through photographs.
I'm back looking at Tom Hussey and his photography work, I think that his work is brilliant. I found a quote which Tom Hussey had said about his photography work. He stated that his photography ' It's a combination of lighting and storytelling meant to evoke an emotion. I believe that lighting plays a big part in how people react to the emotion being portrayed in my images' and this is why I like his work so much, the picture does tell a story and all these emotions are coming over you while you are viewing the photograph, it is just brilliant.
A photograph which touched me that Tom Hussey had taken was of this women who was abusing her body with drinking alcohol and smoking. I thought this could relate to my project because even though my project is about Self Harming and the victim v the attacker this photograph could help me in that aspect of things, because this individual is abusing themselves with alcohol and smoking so it is the same as the victim v the attacker because majority of the time they do not actually want to be drinking and smoking but the attacker in them is forcing them and encourgaing them to follow through with something that they would rather get help for and sort themselves out with.
I do feel that this photograph relates in so many ways, and even though other individuals looking at the photograph may have different emotions towards it but my emotions are the same as when I look at a Self Harming photograph is that these individuals need help and they are asking for help but they are going the wrong way about it, instead of speaking out about their problems they are abusing their bodies hoping that someone will take notice of them.
Still on the aspect of ideas and creating more ideas for my final image. I am still keeping to the aspect of mirrors and I have found a photographer who really captures the true essence of what they are actually taking and it will really create and have influence within my final photographers.
The photographer is Texas based Tom Hussey, his photographer which really touched me was the old man looking at himself in the mirror as a younger himself and in the forces, it is him reflecting on what he has been throughout his life and it is very touching and moving.
I feel this photograph can influence me due to the fact that when it comes to Self Harming individuals they look at themselves and see a different person they do not see themselves but they see another version of themselves a better version of themselves in a matter of fact, which in a way this photograph is doing, it is showing the old man looking back on his days as a solider and reflecting on the things he has done may be they were his best days of his life and it is the same for a Self Harming individual they want to go back to a place where they felt at their best.
While researching more into mirrors and finding other photographers I have found one in particular which I find very moving especially because I am doing Self Harming and this photograph could represent Self Harming or it could represent violence, which is my idea for my final images.
The photographer is Bhanu Ahluwalia and they do photograph of Surreal Multiplicity. The meaning of Multiplicity is a photography technique in which the same person is photographed from different angles and directions and then the bunch of photographs are digitally re-mastered in Photoshop showing clones of the person doing different things all in one photo. I think this is really creative and possibly something which may be adapted into my final Self Harming photograph.
The photograph which I feel is best for me to gain inspiration from is called 'what you don't know can indeed hurt you' the name speaks for itself I feel, just as much as the photograph. With Self Harming I believe that what you don't know can indeed hurt you because that is speaking to the individual who is Self Harming family as when they know what is happening it will indeed hurt them, knowing that someone they are close to is going through such a horrible time. This photograph can be represented in many ways but it is something which I was heading towards and it could possibly help develop my idea further.
As my idea I want to look at the victim v the attacker when it comes to self harming, I thought that mirrors would be a great way of portraying this victim v attacker aspect of the project because it is something different but majority of the time self harming individuals do not like looking at themselves in the mirror as they see a different person than what they really are.
I have been looking at Kate McCauley and David Seidner photography of mirrors and I find their photography very interesting as they use mirrors in a very odd but creative way. Even though their photography does not focus on self harming I do feel that I could use inspiration from them and adapt it into my photography work. The image which really grabs my attention is an image which features someone who is in a wedding dress but it looks as if the mirror has broken and they have pieced the mirror back together, this photography can give off so many meanings, does it mean that if you piece things together you are able to move on? or does it mean that even though you've fixed everything the cracks are still showing?
And this is why I liked this photograph because with self harming it is giving off this feeling that you may be healed but self harming will always be with you. I do not want to re create this photograph but I do feel it will help me develop my already made idea solid.
As my idea is looking at the victim v the attacker with Self Harming I have come across this photograph by Multicoloured and the image is titled 'Silence' just by the title I was drawn to it because with Self Harming the person is silent they feel that they can't speak to anyone and they are alone in the situation.
When I looked at the photograph I thought this shows the victim v the attacker she is holding a knife to her throat with tape around her mouth and to me this image is yes a Self Harming image but it is looking as if she has been kidnapped and being attacked which I feel fits in well with the project which I want to go down and focus on.
