The pile of mail inside the front door.
The bomb site that's the kitchen.
A person in the street from behind a curtain.
A blank wall.
A full ashtray.
The new mower, still in its box, in the jungle of a garden.
The cat asleep on the pile of clothes that really should be washed.
Yes - portraits.
Edit: Oh yes - and the back of the girlfriend walking down the garden path with her suitcase.
Sorry to be down after the previous post.
Alan makes a good point, but what do you want to show?
That's the most inappropriate set of suggestions I've ever heard. If you want to take photographs that re-enforce stereotypes, perpetuate myths and alienate sufferers of mental illness by marginalising them even more... do the above. I'm sure simon-ess meant well... there was no malice in his post, but Kabooi.... please don't shoot any of that.
To the OP
Question: Do you want to show what it's like to suffer from whatever mental illness you are suffering from? If so, start looking at images now.. as many as you can, and put all the ones that strike a chord with you on a page. These don't have to be images of people, and certainly shouldn't be images of "mental health" issues... just images of anything. Look at how some of them evoke emotions regardless of subject. For instance, if you feel fear as a result of your illness, find images that evoke fear, then identify what it is about the image that does this to you. Keep doing this until you have a "toolkit" of visual emotions. Then apply these to almost any photograph you choose. It's about getting across your emotions, feelings etc, not portraits of people in various states of distress.. that's too obvious, and too negative.
As an example, if you feel demotivated, drab, grey, isolated.. look at the architectural work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. These maybe buildings, but to me, they capture a grey, industrialised dystopia that actually makes me a little depressed... maybe take some styling cues from them, and purposely shoot the every day things we
ALL see, but as
YOU see them. Use colour, tone, shape and form to convey being depressed (I'm not assuming you are depressed... I'm just using depression as an example). Look up "New Topographics" in Google to see a style of photography that was meant to strip away the BS of everyday life, and show the world for what it is, essentially empty and devoid of anything particularly exciting. There's a raw beauty on some of this work, but it's hard, edgy, unsettling and causes dissonance. Rather like depression does to you.
It's about capturing the qualities, not the subject itself.
Your original suggestion mentioned portraits, using make up and lighting... please don't do this.. it's way, way too obvious, and even though you mean well, you'll be creating a parody of yourself.
Shoot the WORLD as you see it.. use colour, tone, texture... How does the way you FEEL actually LOOK to you. Find images that capture it.
For instance again... you feel fear? Look up the series "The Animals" by Giacomo Brunelli. These images weren't meant to be a study in fear at all, but they scare me.. look at how that happens for you when you look at this work.
Never, ever do the obvious, so that means never ever do the first thing that comes into your head. I always discount the first idea I have... Shooting people made up to look [insert emotion here] and lit to exaggerate [insert emotion here] will be A) Contrived, B) negative and C) patronising and insulting to other sufferers.
Be clever.
Some images just evoke emotions.. so look at loads of them and learn what it is that does it. When I look at the work "Cape Light" by Joel Myerowitz I get a really strong sense of sweet melancholy... it's a bitter sweet mix of loss, fond memories, and sadness. No idea why... I just do... If I shot in that style, or knew how to capture it, I could shoot anything and convey that feeling.
That's better.. that's clever. Someone in make up looking depressed is a terrible idea.
I hope that helps... but dealing with emotions should be subtle, and remember, it's the emotions you want to capture, not necessarily the subject.
Question: Do you want to show the positive? It's already been suggested.. show fellow sufferers being NORMAL... being productive... being HAPPY... happiness is always present.. it may come and go... but it's never far away.
BTW.. if any of the usual suspects show up with "Pull yourself together" comments, can I suggest Mods perma-ban their ass?
Okay, so the title for the thread is somewhat misleading, but I was wondering...
