Not everything is as it seems

1. Not everything is as it seems
Felicity Bearfoot-Fallon
4244
To explore the idea that not everything is always as it seems and research peoples choice of action, through the
influence of mental health disorders.

2. Contents
• Statement of Intent
• Introduction
• Pinterest Page
• Artist 1
• Key Concepts
• Artist 2
• Key concepts
• Artists 3
• Key concepts
• Test Shoot
According to mentalhealth.org, it is estimated that approximately
450 million people worldwide have a mental health problem,
excluding those who have not gone to seek medical help. There
have been many studies arguing that social media has had an
impact on current teenage mental health. In 2012, Medical News
Today reported on a study suggesting that using Facebook may
feed anxiety and increase a person’s feeling of inadequacy. In a
more recent study, led by social psychiatrist Ethan Cross of the
University of Michigan, found that using Facebook may even make
us miserable. I find this fascinating that something that should
bring happiness, a sharing of values and ideas can actually be
harmful or damaging to one’s health. Through different artist’s
work /experiences/ perceptions, I will be able to explore the
connection between mental issues and social media more
thoroughly. I believe doing this will also allow other possibilities
and reasons amongst society and mental health to be discovered,
which I could then investigate into further. For me, mental health
is a serious issue in society today, especially within teenagers, as
most perceptions of mental health disorders are negative and
judgmental. Through my photography, I want to also explore how
this can be changed and how to promote that more attention is
needed when addressing the issue. I can use different techniques,
settings and effects to portray my chosen subject, and use
photography to tell a story related to the subject. I could also plan
candid and staged shoots to have a comparison of different
emotions from different types of people, and explored these
through other people’s perceptions and judgments. Through this I
can combine a portfolio of different types of shoots, telling different
stories to express the issues of mental health. Using social media
and Facebook as an example, everything is really not what it
seems.
Introduction

3. Mood Board
I like the idea of
instalments, and
then photo shopping
images around the
original photograph.
I want to experiment
on Photoshop using
foggy effects like this
one.
I felt this
image fits with
my statement
of intent.
I like portraiture
and may use it to
express mental
health.

4. Gallery Visit: Tate Modern
Jannis Kounellis is a Greek painter, performance artist and sculptor, who produced work aiming at the subject of Art
Informel, which is a French term for describing a range of abstract approaches to a painting. Kounellis is an artist who
believes a gallery is where the real life and fiction merge within a theatrical space. This particular piece he explains that
“the individual drawings are like sketches made on the surface of the water, which only last for a second”. The two crows
have been seen as symbolising “the death throes of imaginative freedom”.
In 1967, Kounellis became associated with Arte Povera, a movement theorized by curator Germano Celant as a major
shift from work on flat surfaces to installations. I think the work produced is very fascinating, and was actually the first
thing I saw in the gallery which stood out to me. The artist brings to different techniques to one subject, creating a whole
new piece of work.
This piece of work stood out to me because it made me think about two opposites being combined together, in this case,
flat pencil drawings with 3D crows. However, I put it in the perspective of a person who is suffering with a disorder. The
flat simple pencil drawing of the houses is the person, and the aggressive 3D crows is the disorder which is attacking.
Putting the artwork into this perspective can help explain how two opposite things are being forced together which may
not necessarily conform.
Artist Research : Jannis Kounellis:
Untitled:1936

5. Jannis Kounellis
Content
Perspective
Environment
Scale
Size
Mood
Isolation
Emotionless
Burnt
Genre
Form
Tones
Proportion
Hues
Expressive
Process
Installation
Illustrative
Photographic
Layers

6. Bill Viola portrays his work through the use of video art. In this particular piece he has three projections around a completely
darkened room, showing quick flashes of white figures, with continuous sounds of mumbling and faded speech. This allows the
viewer to have different experiences through different senses and allow the body to take on the intensity of these reappearing
images. Viola in 1992 said “ the struggles we are witnessing today is between our inner and our outer lives, and our bodies are
the area where this belief is being played out.”
I believe that what Viola says and his work can be connected to mental issues and disorders. As soon as I started to go into the
exhibition of his work I immediately felt this wave of uncertainness come over me as I felt uncomfortable about not knowing
what I was walking into as it was pitch black. The longer I stayed there, the more I thought about how what I was feeling
could be a much more mild version of how someone with a particular mental disorder could feel, for example anxiety. His work
in the 1990’s show “the body as a site for physical transformations”. These transformations could be the inner emotions and
feelings of an ill person, which may not necessarily be displayed on their outer appearance.
Gallery Visit: Tate Modern
Bill Viola: Tiny Deaths:1993

7. Bill Viola
Content
Mid-ground
Focal point
Distance
Size
Mood
Isolation
Emotion
Fear
Genre
Form
Tones
Hues
Soft
Expressive
Process
Installation
Illustrative
Photographic
Media

8. I found Donna j wan on lenscratch.com. Her work features much different approach from Jannis Kounellis, and one I was
already fond of – landscapes. I found that Donna J Wan has a recent new series called ‘Death wooed us’, in which she talks
about how her latest work connects back to about how often she had suicidal thoughts. So apart of her work was she visited
places where there was a high suicide rate, and took pictures of them, however the pictures are beautiful. Wan speaks
about her how photographs have a “hazy and elusive quality” which she believes “reflects the clouded state mind of the
suicidal”. I thought that this perfectly fitted with my theme of how not everything is as seems, as well as relating back to
mental disorders.
The pieces of work I saw from the Tate Modern are very dismal and bleak. When looking at them, I do not get a positive or
happy feeling. This made me think about how a negative message could have a positive appearance. For example, Donna
J. Wan speaks about how often she had suicidal thoughts. So apart of her work was she visited places where there was a
high suicide rate, and took pictures of them, however the pictures are beautiful. The title of her series is called Death
Wooed Us. Wan speaks about her how photographs have a “hazy and elusive quality” which she believes “reflects the
clouded state mind of the suicidal”.
Donna J Wan

9. Donna J Wan
Content
Environment
Scale
Perspective
Background
Mood
Tranquil
Euphoria
Emotion
Genre
Form
Expressive
Tones
Hues
Photographic
Process
Static
Illustrative
Relief
Photographic

10. Test Shoot
For this test shoot, I wanted to
achieve a similar out come to Donna
J Wans sky photos, so for the best
possibility to achieve this, I took a
range of photos between 7;00pm-
9;00pm on a summers evening.
This group of photos shows the
gradual change between late
afternoon and evening, with the
colours and cloud formation
changing with it.
Reflection
Through this shoot, I have learnt
that positioning of the camera in the
correct spot for a sunset will create a
better outcome.
Also, experimentation on Photoshop
will help expose and create contrast
within my photos.

11. Test shoot 2
For this shoot, I wanted to capture local, common
areas and places, but create a different meaning
for them.
I wanted to use Donna J Wans idea of capturing
innocent looking areas, which could be deceived
as actually being a possible suicide destination, or
a place where could be miserable for people with
mental health, and a possible escape from
whatever they are suffering from.
I went to different roads and roundabouts in late
afternoon/ evening, and tried to capture cars
driving by and shooting long exposure.
I also experimented with flash to see how this
changed the composition of the images, and if
they looked better brighter or darker.

12. Test shoot 2
These are more shots from my first test shoot. The
first couple shots are from where the sun was still
setting and I included the most successful ones.
As the sun started to set, I found long path ways
and roads to get a deserted and isolated, lonely
affect amongst the image.
When the sunset almost finished, I went to a
roundabout, which still seemed to be busy,
contrasting with the lonely, isolated pathways.
As these roads seemed busier, I wanted to capture
the movement from the cars driving by, and put the
camera in the position of a person, as if they are
ready to get run over.

13. Photoshop Evidence- Test Shoot 1
For my first final image, I added a new adjustment layer
of curves, to change the colouring of the image and
enhance the colours of the sunset. I then modified the
colour balance layer and adjusted the colours to achieve
stronger reds and yellows, as the blue was very dominant
within the image. This created a more enhanced sunset,
creating a focal point for the final image.

14. Photoshop Evidence- Test Shoot 2
For this image, I created a new
adjustment layer and changed the image
to black and white. Then I added another
layer for curves, to enhance the image by
adding to the blacks. I then added a new
layer for exposure to correct the image.
Having the photograph in black and white
allows the movement of the car to stand
out more, creating a focal point for the
image.

15. Final Images – Test Shoot 2

16. My happy accident

17. Test Shoot 3
For this test shoot, I went out to take pictures in the early
afternoon while it was still light. I did this because I
wanted to experiment with lens flare and the possibilities
that could come out of it.
As the sun was still out, I tried standing in different
positions to try and capture lens flare. As it was so bright, I
had to change the camera settings for it to be more
successful.
As the sun started to set, I started to shoot again, and this
time the flare was a lot stronger and more dominant
within the framing of the shot. The colours of yellow and
pink conform nicely with one another allowing the
composition of the photograph to be successful.
When the sun was just about to go down, the flare started
to disappear again, by the pinks slowly fading, and the
yellow becoming more dominant within the image.
As the sun finally set, the main dominating colour was
different shades of blue, and the flare could no longer be
seen.

18. Photoshop Evidence- Test Shoot 3
For this image, I created a new adjustment layer for
curves to enhance the colours in the image. Then I
added a new layer for colour balance to balance out
the reds of the sun and lens flare and the pale blue
of the sky, changing it to a tinted purple and orange.
This created more of a sunset effect and allowed
the flare around the sun to become more vivid.

19. Photoshop Evidence- Test Shoot 3
For this image, I added an adjustment layer for curves, and
colour balance, to even out the reds and blacks. The change of
curves allowed a silhouette effect to take place in the image,
and the sunset to become more vivid, allowing the tree to
become the focal point. The blues from the sky are then toned
down so the reds dominate the image.

20. Final Images – Test Shoot 3

21. Joel Meyerowitz is a street photographer, portrait and landscape photographer. He began
photographing colour in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of colour photography in a time
where there was resistance to the idea of colour photography as a serious art.
Shifting between black and white and colour film, Meyerowitz ultimately chose colour as his
primary medium, and moved from the handheld 35mm camera to large-format view camera,
greatly influencing his image-making technique by introducing a slower, meditative process.
Joel Meyerowitz developed a keen eye for the changing light and subtleties of his surroundings. His
photographs express a delightful sense of the subtle nuances of colour that can often only be
appreciated upon successive viewing. This characteristic is as true of the early work in his first
book, Cape Light, as it is of his most recent photography in the new book, Tuscany inside the Light.
Joel Meyerowitz

22. Joel Meyerowitz
Content
Story
Foreground
Distance
Background
Mood
Tranquil
Euphoria
Emotion
Genre
Form
Colours
Hues
Tones
Expressive
Process
Static
Illustrative
Relief
Photographic

23. Shoot 1
With the inspiration from Donna J Wan and my own
ideas, I went out into London, to an area with bridges
and the river to capture the idea of escape, and what
can be seen as beautiful scenery to one person, could be
seen as an opportunity to another.
I took these photographs with Donna J Wans work in
mind. I wanted to have a variety of simple photographs
and ones which contained more detail and seemed
busier, to have a contrast.
Joel Meyerowitz also has a section of landscape
photographs , some of which he captures the different
colours in the sky, as the sun sets.
I also took inspiration from him when thinking about
to how to compose and frame the photographs I was
taking. As well as incorporating Joel Meyerowitz
elements, I also included my ideas. I love silhouettes,
so positioned myself and the camera so there was a
subject just in front of the sun setting. For example, a
bridge, wall, lamppost etc.

24. Final images shoot 1

25. Shoot 2
For this shoot, I wanted it to be similar to the previous one,
however in a slightly different location. I went to a different part
of London, but that still had similar surroundings.
I went slightly later in the day to get darker shots which had
more shadowing.
On Adobe Bridge, I selected all the photos, and changed the
contrast and brightness, as I felt the photos were too grey, and
needed more vibrancy.
While standing on the bridge, I held the camera over the edge
and waited for a train to come past on the railway opposite. I
wanted to capture the fast motion of the bridge with the still,
vivid sunset behind it, to have contrast within the image.
As the sunset was disappearing, I used the last bit of light in the
day to my advantage and captured reflections of buildings,
bridges and the light against the water.
I also brought the camera close to a subject, for example the
bridge, to have content in the background and foreground.

26. Final Images
shoot 2

27. Shoot 3
For my third shoot, I wanted to capture photos which I
feel reflects more of the disillusioned state of mind. I
went to an abandoned airfield which was used in the
war.
A lot of the runway was disguised with grass and
barriers, but can still be seen. The weather was also
overcast, so created a more dark and moody look for my
photographs, which I think conforms to the images.
The grass was overgrown and there were barriers across
the runway to stop it being used. All around the field I
found piles of old tyres, various forms of equipment, and
a small control tower.
I also liked that the area is completely isolated and there
was no one to be seen. It created an eerie feel to my
photographs which reflects what I was actually feeling
when I was there.
I felt this place related back to my statement of intent,
as from first look, its just a field, but if you knew the
history and context behind the area, you would know
what it really is.

28. Shoot 3 final
images edit
At school

30. Shoot 4,contacts
and final images
needed.