Artist research- Olivia Gerard
I was first inspired by the work of Gerard when I started this project, by the images that she takes. The two images shown above are from a series called ‘Swimming in Darkness’, showing what it’s like to have a mental health illness and the difficulties that having this type of illness can cause.
This series allowed Gerard to express feelings through photography, that she had not been able to do previously through speech or writing. This gave the work a more personal feel, as not only is the model having their story told; also, Gerard is able to express her thoughts and feelings as well through the work that she creates.
I was especially taken with the work that she creates and have used her as inspiration throughout my project, because of her style of photography and the way that she has photographed the individual within this project; never facing the camera. The model is always slightly angled to one side, is covering their face, or in some cases only part of the body is shown. By doing this it has allowed me as the audience to view the work with emotion, almost allowing me to experience what the individual is potentially feeling and almost giving the impression that I am the one who is experiencing the mental health illness.
This series allowed Gerard to express feelings through photography, that she had not been able to do previously through speech or writing. This gave the work a more personal feel, as not only is the model having their story told; also, Gerard is able to express her thoughts and feelings as well through the work that she creates.
I was especially taken with the work that she creates and have used her as inspiration throughout my project, because of her style of photography and the way that she has photographed the individual within this project; never facing the camera. The model is always slightly angled to one side, is covering their face, or in some cases only part of the body is shown. By doing this it has allowed me as the audience to view the work with emotion, almost allowing me to experience what the individual is potentially feeling and almost giving the impression that I am the one who is experiencing the mental health illness.
