Niamh Iveson plans to create a photography project based on her experience living with an eating disorder. She wants to use photography to educate others and reduce the stigma around eating disorders by depicting what it is like to live with one mentally and physically. Some of her initial ideas include abstract images that make the audience think and depict the uncomfortable realities of an eating disorder. Niamh has experience with photography and wants to use this final major project as an opportunity to discuss a personally meaningful topic.

1. initial ideas +
context
niamh iveson

2. pre-proposal
Tell me in no more than 20 words, what is
your FMP idea?
To create a photography project based on
living with an eating disorder
Why have you decided to make it?
I enjoy and feel I can make a good FMP in
photography and I feel the topic is something
that needs to be discussed
What about your project makes it important to
you?
Since I have lived with an eating disorder for a
few years now I’ve noticed that nobody tends
to talk about how an eating disorder can effect
someone mentally and physically and that is
something that shouldn’t be a taboo.
Outline some of the initial influences on your
idea/work and some potential research targets
(remember, research isn’t just a paper based
activity)
A photographer’s work I find influential is Laia
Abril. I believe her work accurately depicts an
eating disorder from the image itself to the
colour scheme.
What effect do you want to have on your
audience when they see your project?
I would want the images to make the audience
slightly uncomfortable as well as educate
them.

3. pre-proposal
Describe the tone/mood/style of your
project [which production
techniques/characteristics are you
employing?]
The style of images I would want to
achieve would be abstract as that is a
style and familiar with. Also, this style
would have to make the audience think,
which is the aim. The mood for this
project wouldn’t be a very pleasant one;
that would be my aim.
Why have you decided to make your
project in this style?
Because the topic I am depicting within
the images isn’t a very bright and joyful
subject and if I were to create images of
that nature, it wouldn’t be accurate.

4. initial reaction
When I first thought of what I could
possibly make for my FMP, I thought about
doing a short film or a photography series
as those are areas I am strong and
confident in. I struggled with a subject to
do as I had many ideas. The subjects
ranged from certain words such as
‘euphoria’ and ‘safety’ to more personal
things such as living with anorexia and
dealing with loneliness. I was close to
doing the project based on the word
‘euphoria’ but I wanted the project to be
more personal and something with more
meaning, so I decided on the topic of
living with anorexia. as this is an issue I
am still dealing with, this will make my
FMP more accurate as I can take from
experiences that have happened recently,
also making it more personal.
With the FMP, I have more creative
freedom to showcase a subject I want in
a way I want which I find exciting and
more interesting than the other projects.
I have more independence with the
outcome as I don’t have a piece I need
my project to look like.
When thinking about the format of my
final project, as said before, I wanted
to do a short film or photography
series. I decided on a photography
series because I believe I have more
freedom in what I create. With a short
film, there would have to be a
consistency in shots, screen size and
colours. Whereas with a photography
series, you have more choice as you
only really need to keep the images
under the same topic and possibly the
colour scheme.

5. mind map - one
short film on
living with an
eating
disorder
titles
weight
eat
comfort
colour
scheme
main
concept
A day in the life
of someone with
an ED
what an ED is
like during a
meal
Getting ready for
a day with an ED

6. mind map - two
photograph
y series on
living with
an eating
disorder
main title
weight
love to hate
shadow
colour
schem
e
image
ideas
piggy back
at a dinner
table
someone with kiss
prints all over their
body
The place where certain activities
surrounding the eating disorder
have occurred

7. mind map - three
photography
project on
the word
‘euphoria’
colour
scheme
image
ideas
Someone
sighing while
looking up
someone
eating food
subject
ideas
showing items that can give a
euphoric feeling (e.g. food,
drugs, exercise)
show how
euphoria feels
for me.
example could
be surrounded
having an ED.
what the word
‘euphoria’ means to
other people.

8. mood board

9. mood board analysis
When thinking of a
colour scheme, this
album cover was the
first thing I thought
of. The colours are
very dull yet still
interesting to look
at
This image’s colour scheme
is a big inspiration. It
reoccurs in other images on
this mood board. I like that it
create a almost dirty look to
the images which is a look I
would want
This image
continues the
colour scheme
that I am
thinking of using
in my images. I
like the two
image- image; It
tells a story
This image is very
similar to an image
idea I have about
using the colour
red. It conveys a
sense of power.
The power an
eating disorder has
One of my hobbies is listening to
music. I find I correlate music with
certain aspects of my life. I feel this
song’s melody sounds like how an ED
comforts you in times of trouble.
The double
exposure in this
picture is
something I could
recreate to show
how someone
with an eating
disorder isn’t the
eating disorder
Again, the dirty
green colour
scheme. I feel this
colour scheme
accurately
demonstrates how
an eating disorder
feels.
I like the
shadow in this
photo which is
why its on my
mood board. Like
this image, it can
demonstrate how
someone with an
ED isn’t the ED
Mitski is an artist I listened to a lot
while I was in hospital for re-feeding
so her music has a lot of meaning to
me. This song’s lyrics are very gentle
and caring which is what an ED can
feel like.
An idea I had before
seeing this image was
me reading a
magazine which fat-
shames a woman as
they are so common.
The picture inspired
me to possibly collect
many magazines and
be covered in them
I feel this image
could show the
reality having an
ED and how it can
effect everyone
around you. It’s a
powerful image
regardless of what
it was taken for.
A concept I really
want to
experiment with
is physical
manipulation. It
can convey so
many things. One
is how an ED can
rip you apart.
Something I
found myself
doing in the
depths of my ED
was hoarding
cutlery and
bowls. This photo
looks like the
idea I had in my
head.

10. mood board

11. mood board analysis
This songs' lyrics is the reason its on
my mood board. It talks about having
‘a war with’ your ‘body’ which I
heavily relate to. That specific lyric
has sparked a lot inspiration for an
image that could have a war-like feel
to it.
I like the idea of using
a photo sequence in
just one image. This
image depicts an idea
I had about feeling
guilty after eating. The
colour scheme in this
image have made me
reconsider other
options.
This photo looks like
an idea I had about
using kiss marks all
over the face and
body. I like how clean
the picture looks; I
would want to create
at least 2 images like
that
I found this picture
made me think about
times I have thrown
food if I didn’t want to
eat it. Although that
isn’t what the pictures
original purpose was,
that was my first
thought. It inspired
me to think about
showing more of real
impacts an ED can
have, rather than
showing it in an
abstract way.
This image is very
different to the other
ones on my mood
board. When I see this
picture, I think that
the picture could show
how food is always on
your mind and how
you feel like you cant
escape it. The picture
is weird and disturbing
to look at, which is
something I would like
to achieve in some of
my final images

12. influence and inspiration
Mafalda Rakos
Mafalda is a photographer who’s work talks about themes such as trauma.
She has done multiple projects based around living with eating disorders. One
project that really stuck out to me was ‘ I want to disappear.’ The series
follows different women that are living or have lived with anorexia. I find her
images are raw and to-the-point. With each image there’s a story of the
woman which I find gives the series more personality and makes it feel more
real. She has spoken about her reasoning behind the projects; she lived with
anorexia herself. She also said ‘The outcome is not only addressed to those
who are interested in photography and art, but also to those who are in touch
with eating disorders and interested in seeing them from a new point of view.’
this quote from her is something I want to do with my own project.

13. influence and inspiration
some of Mafalda’s work
"For me, it shows the
ambivalence of food and eating
in general. I think the knifes
look very brutal. It‘s like fighting
yourself every time you eat a
piece of bread."
Barbara, Vienna, 2015. "When I
think about it today, the most
shocking thing for me is that I
somehow never thought about
when I would want to stop
losing weight.
Caroline, Vienna, 2015. C. has been
suffering from Anorexia and Bulimia
since her early adolescence. The
picture shows the burn marks she is
continuously receiving from hot-water-
bottles. "I am always cold. I don't know
why. I feel that I cannot sleep anymore
without this thing, but I always make it
too hot.. I don't know why. I guess I
don't care."

14. influence and inspiration
Mitski
Mitski is a Japanese-American musician. Her music talks about
many different topics, ranging from flawed relationships to
abusing your body to please others. Her writing style varies from
song to song however, throughout, her songs remain poetic. An
example would be ‘Crack Baby’ she refers to a moonflower which
only bloom at night then dies in the morning, only for another
flower to replace it the next night. This cleverly sets a scene of
doing drugs at night. I feel her lyrics are raw yet pretty which I
find very inspiring. Even though Mitski isn’t a photographer, I find
her music very influential, especially towards this project. A song
by her that I will want to reference in my FMP somewhere is
‘Nobody.’ The song talks about feeling disconnected to world as
well as loneliness.
This is a quote from her
Genius interview about the
song ‘Nobody’

15. influence and inspiration
These are some songs that have inspired and influenced my
outlook on my project
A Burning Hill Lonesome Love I Want You A Pearl

16. skills audit
Good ideas
Havent used studio lighting good with
other lightings
Can use a DSLR in Manual mode
I personally believe I have good ideas for
photography projects however, I struggle to
conduct people to do what I want them to do so
the images never turn out how I want them to. To
fix this problem, I need to build my confidence
more and to not me afraid to tell people what to
do
Ive had previous experience with working
with natural lighting for photography projects
which I will use for my FMP. However, I don’t
have much experience with using studio
lighting. I reckon having this knowledge will
benefit me and the outcome of my FMP. To
gain this information, I can speak to my tutor
about how to set up the lighting as well as
what type of lighting will look the most
appealing for my images. I will also watch
YouTube videos to help me gain further
understanding.
Ive have experience with working in
manual mode on a DSLR camera,
which will benefit me and the overall
outcome of the project. This will save
me time. I will use this extra time to
learn about studio lighting.
A skill I want to learn to help
improve the outcome of my
FMP is learning how to edit
image to look like they have
been taken on film. To do
this, I will look at different
tutorials from YouTube.

17. why are you making this project?
I've struggled with an eating disorder for a few years and throughout
those years, I've noticed how big the stigma is around eating
disorders. There isn’t as much awareness on how an eating disorder
can effect someone as well as everyone else around them. The reason
I wanted to make my FMP surrounding this topic is because this can be
a way to educate people and help people understand why people can
stay ill for so long. I wanted to do it in a photography series as that is
the profession I want to pursue. Another reason is that I felt with
photography series, you can take your time to process an image before
you move on the next whereas the other option I was considering, a
short film, you don’t really have time to process each frame; its all
almost thrown at you. I feel with the aim of my FMP, I want to give the
audience more time to understand each image.

18. hopes for the FMP
I hope that my FMP can educate people who don’t know much about
eatings disorders and how they can effect someone and those
around them. Also i want it to help people with a lack of
understanding that having an ED isn’t the person’s choice or fault;
it’s a mental illness. Also, that it is a mental illness, not a weight
disorder. I want my series to give an inside view on what an eating
disorder can feel like and why people can stay ill for so long in
hopes for the audience to understand better.
As well as all this, I want other people who are struggling or who
have suffered from an eating disorder (not just anorexia,) to relate
to the project and feel comforted that it isn’t or wasn’t just them
who felt or feel that way.
I also hope that the work I create for this project
can be added to my portfolio for my university
application.

19. strengths and limitations
strengths
- I may not be able to physically exhibit my
work, like i would want to. If this becomes a
reality, I would do a mock-up of how I
would want the exhibition to look like if it
were to have happened.
limitation
s
- I have experience with planning a
photography shoot; when I was
doing GCSE Photography as well as
certain aspects of my college course
(e.g. creating a style sheet.) This
gives me a better chance to create a
more professional piece of work.
- I have very good knowledge with
the topic I will be discussing in the
series since I have experienced it
first-hand. This will give a personal
feeling to the images, which is what
I am aiming for anyways.
- I haven’t created a photography series
before which could put me at a
disadvantage. To prevent this from
happening, I will research different
photography series, not just ones based
around eating disorders, to help me grasp
a better understanding of what they can
look like and to help me build an idea of
what I would want mine to look like.

20. strengths and limitations
strengths limitation
s
- I have a good imagination and am
creative. I almost always have a clear
idea on what I want the image I am
taking to look like. This will help my
project as I wont need to spend much
time on thinking of ideas. Even though
this is a good quality, I won’t just go
with the first idea that I think of. If I
were to do that, the outcome of my
images could be fairly boring so to
prevent this, I will still set time aside
to think of different ideas and develop
the ones I have already thought of
Something I struggle with
explaining my thought process
and how I came to a certain
conclusion. To try and help with
this struggle, I will keep a note on
my phone of why I did a certain
aspect of my project and will
upload that. As well as this, I will
do weekly vlogs to review the
week and what Ive done and why.

21. potential research activities
I own a few photography books. I can use these
to discover different photographers and research
their work and background.
I may also go to my local library to see if they
have any photography books that I can loan to
discover even more different photographers I
haven't come across before.
I can also, in my free time, go to
art galleries to find more
inspiration as well as more
photographers that could
influence my work.
Another possible research activity
could be watching photographer
interviews online to help me see
how they work and what they do to
reach their end images.
A potential research activity is
watching different Adobe tutorials
to help me learn more about
editing images on Photoshop and
how to make them look more
professional.

22. end of week vlog