STEP 04 – FOLLOW THE TRAIL AND GO CLOSER
“I can hear you now – Sequences”.
In my work, I am interested in exploring the ways in which photography can be used as a tool for psychological and emotional research, investigating my inner world and the one of the portrayed individuals and viewers.
In my “Sequences”, I photographically portray the whole emotional path my sitters followed in front of my camera: the use of long-exposure allowed me to depict those moments of emotional liberation capturing with my lenses facial expressions and body movements at the same time, proving that individuality and diversity have an important role also in the way we suffer.
This is why number of photographs composing the “Sequences” is not always the same: the individuality of each sitter is respected and being all different we can need more or less time to release our inner pressure.
An identical structure does not cancel that individuality but it reinforces it, since observing the same type of photographs in series we can detect all those differences that identify each one of us and all sitters are equally represented since the depicted condition is something we all share.
They are structured in contact sheets, because this format allowed her to present the whole sequence of “decisive moments”, to quote Henry Cartier-Bresson, that, altogether, take to a climax and to a subsequent emotional reaction to that strong externalisation of negative feelings.
The process can be observed all at once and step-by-step at the same time, giving viewers the time to analyse it and imagine the stories behind these photographs, with the hope that this will enhance a sense of empathy rather than sympathy.
The project is born to respond to a personal need. As a sufferer of Anxiety Disorders, in this project I am particularly interested in the impact of Mental Health problems on individuals. In my personal experience, I often feel the urge to scream out in pain but this inner pressure is never expressed since our lives are managed by social norms that stigmatise these kind of behaviours, considering them as disturbing or deviate. I tried to transform the act of screaming, commonly considered as disruptive, in a constructive action that allows her sitters to release their negative emotions or trauma-related memories, creating a constructive dialogue around those Mental Health issues that are still considered a taboo in our culture.
©Dayana Marconi 2016/2018. Copyright for images and videos belongs solely to Dayana Marconi. All materials might not be used or downloaded without her permission.