I will admit, I completely forgot to do my blog post on colours yesterday. In my defence, I did start working on it early this week and I began writing a poem. I have kept it but at the minute I feel too silly to post it and it’s not yet complete. So, one day late, my week 6 post on colours shall be related to a photographic and possibly film documentary that I started last week.
At college we have all been given two assignments that I’ve decided to mingle together. One is a documentary, the other is a 10 minute visual narrative…I know right…what the hell is that? I’ve got to mix together all different medias, i.e photographs, film, moving image, audio etc to make a 10 minute short film. My initial ideas were things like exploring different memories in certain rooms and identifying stereotypical gender jobs. But as a week or so passed, I just wasn’t engaging at all. And with me, if I’m not interested, then I probably won’t get it finished. So, I brainstormed and tried to figure out what I find interesting and what I want to explore. I’m very interested in the mind and body and how things work and why…and I often wish I did psychology. I’ve decided to study mental health issues and the way people are oblivious to what is going on around them. I mean, we could pass anyone in the street and not know a single fact about their lives (hence the documentary name, Invisible Conditions). We could sit opposite someone in a coffee shop and they could be quite content with their life, or we could be looking at someone who starves themselves in order to meet their own high expectations. I want to explore how sufferers live with their conditions and go about their daily lives.
Through some research I’ve found that on average 1 in 4 people suffer with a mental health issue. That’s a serious statistic. I was sitting on the bus today and I counted 8 adults and 4 children. Statistically, 2 of the adults were already experiencing mental health issues, and 1 child had it all coming later in their life, or perhaps they were already showing signs. It felt really strange to sit within a few meters of someone who is a complete stranger to me, but could be dying to make their lives better…after all, a problem shared is a problem halved, or so they say. I’ve interviewed 3 people so far for Invisible Conditions and each one has been an eye opener. It’s fascinating to sit their and listen to life stories so completely different to my own, or some quite similar.
So, my aim is to create imagery that will make more people aware that they don’t know who they are passing in the street. They don’t know why they look sad, or if their smile is real. So all I want to do is encourage people to think twice before they make their own judgment. Even something as simple as a smile can make someone’s day that little bit easier. Even if I change the opinion of just one person, I will feel successful.
And last but certainly not least, if anyone would like to get involved or share their experiences, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me! You can message me on Facebook (Bells Hann) or email me at [email protected] … I can promise that all information is confidential if you want it to be.
…I’ve just come back to edit this upon realising I haven’t even mentioned colours….but I think you can probably work it out yourself.
