My Best Work.

Best work so far (NEW) from shannonaharris

This is a powerpoint of my best work from this unit, the top 20 images will become my final prints.

Extra shoot.

I have used two images and combined aspects of them to create this overall picture, I wanted to show a normal person with an obvious defect. In some cases of mental health problems the consequences are shown physically as well as emotionally. In this image I combine the image of a tree to the skin using the lasso tool to select the parts of skin I wanted covered.

In this image I used brushes I downloaded online of cracks to create this scene around this person. I wanted to show someone feeling isolated and alone by what is happening around them, this is how many of the families feel when a loved one suffers with mental illness. 

Random Shoot.

Random Shoot.

In this image I have added eyes over my original image, I did this through downloading eye brushes. At first I struggled to find realistic eyes but I found that these ones work well with the image. In this photo I was trying show mental illness in a surreal way through blocking out my original face.

Once again in this image I have used similar techniques of adding in facial features using brush tools on photoshop. However In this image I have added in a mouth too, I have been experimenting with adding more features.

This image is focusing more on the campaign side of mental illness, in the past there have been several poster projects to help people come forward about their mental health. I wanted to create my own campaign poster based on some of the research I have done.

In this image I have added a strong screaming face onto my hand, I did this once again through using brushes, I downloaded this particular brush effect from a website called brush easy. In this image I wanted to show the hidden face of mental illness, I have tried to show the anger which we don't always see.

In this image I wanted to show someone blocking their face, they might be hiding some form of mental illness. I added smoke behind the person to represent the intense fear of someone finding out the truth, the hand also represent a block. This could be a mental block of someone not accepting their mental illness, also it could be blocking someone from finding out.

In this image I was originally just going to basically show someone popping a bubble above them, however I wanted to show something alternative. Instead of looking for the bubble this person is covered in bubbles instead, I did take individual shoots of bubbles but I found that the brush tool worked better. This image can be linked to mental illness where someone feels trapped or suppressed.

In this image I have combined two of my original images, I have used the clone tool to transfer my face onto my hand. This was very easily done but has created a great effect, It shows how someone can be hiding who the truly are.

Fear.

In this shoot I wanted to portray how the emotional side of mental illness impacts us, I wanted to show paranoia and how we can be afraid of what is not there. 

In these images I firstly took basic images of myself, I then took separate images of my arms reaching and grabbing. Then I added the two together to create this type of image where someone appears to be being attacked by a series of arms. Out of all these image this is my favourite one because of the positioning and number of hands, the image is not too over crowded it is simplistic. 

This image relates to more fighting your demons, instead of hiding away from your fears you face them . Again this is a very simplistic image because there is only two objects present, however I believe it has a strong symbolic meaning. If you face your fears then you wont be afraid anymore. 

Once again in this image I have showed someone shying away from the hands reaching out to grab them. With a mental illness many people can believe that surreal and non realistic things can harm them, however in reality non of it is true. I believe this image shows this as it clearly shows fear even though many of us would not be afraid of arms or hands. 

Abuse

In this shoot I wanted to look at how mental illness can be a form of abuse, however I wanted to look at the victims rather than the abusers.

In this image I firstly began by adding bruises to the face through using the paint brush and applying different colours to the facial area. Then I decided to add an effect onto the whole image as I liked the way the poster edge effect made the image more surreal. 

In this image I simply added different tone using the brush tool around the eyes,mouth and cheeky. I wanted to make the bruises look old and look painful on the skin. I creating this image as it allowed me to experiment with what tones worked best on the face. 

Plans for the next shoot.

In my next shoot I will be looking at three aspects of mental illness, these will be violence and paranoia. For violence I will show how someones violent outbursts can have an impact on another person, I will show the bruises left behind by violence. For paranoia I will show how someone feels trapped and everyone is after them, I plan to show a series of hands and arm creeping in to grab someone. And finally for the third I will be showing a traditional and surreal view of mental illness. In the past when someone was mentally unstable they were seen as being cursed, this is why I will show levitation to represent this. 

Skinny vs fat

In this shoot I wanted to focus on weight and how it can become a mental illness, in todays society weight is a massive focal point but when does it become a form of mental health problem. 

In this image I wanted to show how many women's perceptions of weight is many focused on being super skinny like the super models they see in magazines. The stick thin arms and waist has become a iconic image which many women aspire too. However is this a healthy obsession or is it a form of mental illness. I believe that extreme dieting and anorexia to achieve a height is a form of mental illness and should not be encouraged. I wanted to show through this image who a obsession caused by mental illness can become extremely unhealthy and un-natural. 

In this image I wanted to show how someone can view their own bodies in a negative way, they may look completely different to they way the think they are. The form of mental illness linked to weight it when the brain makes you believe you are a different size than you are in reality. This can lead to eating disorders on both ends of the scale, I have tried to show this in my image. For example someone may be skinny but views themselves as fat, or vice versa a fat person believes they are skinny and healthy. 

In this image I wanted to show how a mental illness also to do with weight can be denial, obesity is a growing problem and many fail to acknowledge this. In this image I wanted to show how someone may be overweight but happy because they believe this is normal and healthy.