Phobias
Agoraphobia - an abnormal fear of being in crowds, public places, or open areas, sometimes it creates anxiety attacks. It is a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed. Some people may fear actual situations or anticipated situations such as using public transport or enclosed spaces or standing in lines. The anxiety are caused by having no easy way to escape or finding no help if it intensifies in a situation. It develops if they constantly keep having panic attacks and from that point they want to stop going out. They find it very hard to to be in public places as its very overwhemling.
Claustrophobia- an abnormal fear of being in enclosed or narrow places, such as lifts and tight corners. There are many ways to trigger claustrophobia, places such as lifts, tunnels, train tubes, public toilets, car washes, changing rooms and planes. Symptoms are majorly run by panic attacks, they cause trembling, sweating, hot flashes or chills, a choking sensation, nausea and fainting. its caused by something that is traumatic during their childhoods such as being bullied or abused or being trapped in a confined space. Most people can be aware they have it formally addressed to them by a doctor.
Experiments
This experiment is suppose to reflect on the agoraphobia photography as some images that phobia contains the fear of being in open spaces or near big crowds. For inspiration i looked on existed images on google and most of them were of people
near a window as if they cant go outside the window, they are trapped. So i used the classroom window to use the same idea and i had my model sit near the window and acted if if he was terrified of the open space. To edit i played around with the curves to darken the amount of light coming through. Then i put up the vibrancy and desaturated the colours as most of the existed images were dark and eerie. After i used the gradient map to change the colouring and feel of the image to this cold icy tone image, i used colours such as blue and black. Then i changed the setting to vivid light which made it more cool tone. Finally i used the cropped tool.
This experiment was for claustrophobia photography as this phobia contain the fear of being in narrow or small spaces. So stereotypically a lift would be a type of space where people with this phobia would usually ignore, due to the the tight space. I used the college lift and asked my model to stand in the lift as he was about to breakdown, so he held the walls and made a facial expression that looks about to die. To edit i played around with the curves to fix the lighting because the picture was a little bit over-exposed in some parts. Then i put down the exposure. Then i used the gradient map as used colours like dark blue and red to create this colour, then i changed the effect to vivid light an put down the opacity. After i used the motion blur in the fliter gallery to create the confused effect to the phobia and cropped the image with the cropped tool.
Phobia research
Haphephobia
Haphephobia is the fear of being touched or touching, this is a very rare fear. It is said that it is associated with the fear of sexual assault, as some victims being touched would describe it as being touch as 'burning like fire'. Being touched can be seen as empowering and painful. In some cases the fear is specific to one gender. Haphephobia is also referred asthixophobia oraphephobia. Symptoms of Haphephobia include paralysis, panic attacks, hives, fainting, nausea, heart palpitations and hyperventilation. Sometimes the fear can be so intense it can cause them to have agoraphobia. When being diagnosis with it the person must show an excessive fear of human touch which should cause them to have a panic attack or anxiety response. They must acknowledge the fear is very irrational and they avoid it as much as possible. The avoidance of it should create the person's ability to function in day to day activities. The causes of Haphephobia is unknown but some researchers believe some people can be born with it, changes in the brain can happen or traumatic pasts can create it, like sexual assault or rape. There is no cure for it however there are some treatments for it such as exposure therapy, medication and behaviour therapies.
Moodboard/ brainstorm
Need to use hands, or the idea
of hands coming towards someone.
Someone being scared or closing up.
They will do this by closing their faces or moving away hands.
Haphephobia
Dark locations or editing to make it more damartic.
Two hands trying to touch each other, but there is a bit a distance, to show the fear.
Close up of someone freaking out of the idea of them ouching themselves. Like a flash back kind of picture.
Plastic bags or blankets to cover themselves up to hide away from the world. Maybe use tape.
Haphephobia experiments
The concept for this experiment was having another hand holding on to one hand as if its being strangled. This would be a way to portray how having haphepbia feels like if someone touched them. I would call this 'hand suffocation'. This picture is
quite interesting to look at with the depection of the two hands. To edit first i played around with the curves to darken the depth of the shadows. Then i lowered the exposure and saturation. To make the glitch effect i used the rectangular, singul row and single column marquee tool to create the outline of the glitch effects, then i went to the filter gallery, distort and onto the wave effect. I changed the wavelength and amplitude on the settings. I repeated this process through the image making different outlines each time to even out the balance of the glitch effect. I went on the hue' saturation tool and desaturated the image. Next i used the levels to darken the shadows and highlight the light areas. After to make the hand suffocation effect, i got the orginal image, used the quick selction tool on the hand, dragged it to the image and put the opacity down. I had to transform it to place it at the right angle. Finally i made it black and white to the depths of the shadows within the image and most phobia pictures are made black and white to manifest the deepness.
This is called 'interaction nightmare'. She is dreaming of big hands attempting to touch her.
To edit this i first played around with the curves to adjust the lighting and make the image darker and sharper. From separate pictures I used the quick selection tool to outline the hands and placed it on the main image of the girl being scared. I adjusted the angle and placement of the hand, also put the opacity down to create the dreamy effect. I used the gradient map to create this dark blue black colour effect to darken the background of the image, I used it twice for the dark effect and then again after for the blue tint to the image. After i used the black and white effect to even make it more eerie, within the background. For the hands i went on the filter gallery, blur and used the Gaussian blur to make it less sharp and more faded, to give the idea of her dreaming of the hands attempting to touching her. I put down the opacity down every time i used the gradient maps.
This is called 'non contact'. I had the idea from the mood board I made that had a girl wrapped in bubble wrap with tape to keep her self from people touching her. So i had the idea of her being wrapped in a dustbin bag with tape. This went wrong, i took this multiple times and it didn't come out the way I wanted it to. This was the only one i did like which wasn't so blurry and out of focus. To edit I played around with the curves to make the edge more sharp and put more emphasis in the shadows within the image. Then i played around with the exposure and lowered it a lot which made it like this. It looks very cartoonish yet so scary. I also lowered the saturation. The image looks very red from the LED I used to take the picture. The use of the bag makes it more scary and also the one eye showing makes it more effective, however this is my least favourite.
Feedback recreate shoot
Haphephobia
From my feedback I received that my photos were very abstract but I would present the hands to aggressive. The idea for this shoot was in the moment, not a lot of planning went into this. I had access to clean film and two people’s hands. The idea was one hand wanted to have physical contact but was stuck of the barrier of the clean film. The other hand isn’t presented so aggressively, more as gentle. I used the camera on the aperture mode and an f-number around 5.6. To edit I mainly played around with the curves, I lowered it down to create this contrasted look. Then played with the blues and red. After I played around with the exposure and saturation. Then I used the burn tool to darken some parts of the hands. I like the simplicity of the picture and the all the connotations it can give. The matte black background is good too
The concept was inspired from the first one I tried to create. However the hand is suffocating its self with the clean film. To edit I mainly played around with eh curves again to create this contrasted matte black look. This made the appearance of the clean film have a green tint. I then played around with the blue and red colours in the curves. After I used the quick selection tools to grab outlines of the hand but in other pictures to create the illusion of its dreaming its own suffocation. I would copy and paste it and transform the hand to appropriate angle.
Research:
Mental healths
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a brain disorder which distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses, emotions, way of perceiving reality and relating to others. It is the most chronic and disabling brain disorder, it effects the functioning of oneself in society. This would include at work, school and relationships with others. Schizophrenia leaves its sufferer withdrawn and frightened, it’s a long life disease and cannot be cured, but can be controlled with the right treatment. It’s believed that people with the mental illness may have a split personality in which people cannot tell what is real or what is imagined. The world may appear very jumbled and confused with the thoughts, images and sounds that may occur. People with it can have episodes which can last for weeks, but only occurs sometimes in a lifetime. The episodes are manifested through a strange behaviour. Others may see a decline in their function after episodes but see an improvement between psychotic episodes. Symptoms of schizophrenia involve the changes in functioning, thinking, perception, behaviour and display it at different times. When first occurring it is very sudden and severe. There are positive, cognitive and negative symptoms.
Depersonalisation-derealisation
Depersonalisation-derealisation disorder occurs when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, so like you’re dreaming all the time. Some people may have a passing experience of it however the feeling can keep occurring or never actually goes and interferes with your ability to function. It’s common for people who have had a traumatic experience. It can affect people’s work, relationships and daily routines. Treatments are either medication or talk therapy. Symptoms occur when you are feeling detachment, always checking you still exist and checking what is real. It can occur in teens or early adulthood. It is a very rare disorder founded in children or adults. One major symptom is feelings that you're an outside observer of your thoughts, feelings, your body or parts of your body, for example, as if you were floating in air above yourself.
As depersonalisation is a rare form of mental illness not many people are aware of it. Dodie is a famous British YouTuber and artist who promote her condition within the Internet. In this video she explains how it first came about for her and the symptoms, which it carries throughout her life. It’s very hard to diagnosis from the very start as she discloses in the video she thought she had problems with he vision, things went blurry. She has about 789k followers within YouTube and she makes vlogs about how she copes with it, she has a lot of down days and she is very truthful about when she is down. I heard about this illness from her.
Depersonalisation/
derealisation
Dream like effect using vaseline and clean film on the camera.
Levitation photography to show the idea of someone is floating outside their body. Maybe hanging off something. Watch a youtube video for the process.
Outsider observer effect, taking two seperate picture of someone looking the camera and another heads moving to show the effect.
Mostly containing blurriness and a dream like effect.
Maybe try to attempt a point of view shot of what they see, using the sight of blurry vision.
Take several pictures of someone on the floor or a chair watching themselves looking detached.
The concept of this was to show dreamy effect on how depersonalisation shows. With the illness one feels like there living in a dream. So I took two pictures and put it together. One pictures it with him looking into the camera and the other is with his arms up and his eyes closed. To edit I first played around with the curves so I could get rid of the shadows, this made the background matte. To make to the scratchy blob effect I used the quick selection tool and deleted some parts, some parts are the actual picture and the effect I created. I used a solid dark blue colour with a blending colour and lowered the opacity to create the darkness in the picture. For the second picture I used the quick selection tool for the outline of him, brought it to the main picture and lowered the opacity. From the group feedback I should reduce the amount of background, so think more of the composition.
The original idea was to have a same person sitting down and have his body standing over watching him. From my research sometimes people feel like they are watching themselves, so an outer body experience. I took several pictures to get the angles I wanted however the further back I got you loose he back drop, so I was limited to the compositions. To edit I played with the curves, exposure and used solids colours. I used a yellow solid colour with a blending colour and lowered the opacity. Due to the model wearing a white jumper, the yellow solid colour made this weird vibrant colour within the jumper. Then I used the quick selection to grab outlines of the outer body pictures. I dislike this picture because the outcome is not what I was intending. Some of my pictures are repetitive however the concept is abstract. From group feedback was to fix my spacing in the picture so I could actually aim for my intention.
This was the first picture I attempted to take for depersonalisation. The idea of everything being unclear and blurry made me think of glasses. They want to see clearly, they want to wear glasses but yet everything is blurry. That’s why I used a shallow depth of field to focus on the glasses and to edit I made e background blurry. To edit I played with the curves, solid colours, selective colour and Gaussian blur. I couldn’t find the original picture.