Despair
For a few months I was obsessed with emotions of sadness, anger, and despair. I recruited Daniel Cole, drummer and lead singer of the band Buddha Trixie, to star in a story depicting these emotions. The story is about a fictional character who is tired of his normal life and has the need to break free. I told Daniel to imagine that he was in a job he hated, that his girlfriend just broke up with him, and gave other scenarios to help bring out the intensity of sadness, anger, and despair.
After mulling through these photos, I realized that the fictional character he was playing was actually…me. For a long time, I felt like I was going no where. My photography career wasn’t progressing and I was stuck behind the same desk I had been for many years with no end in sight. The emotions I told Daniel to portray (anger, sadness, despair) were real things I was experiencing. For the first time as a photographer, I used my medium to (unknowingly) express what I was going through.
Daniel did a really good job at illustrating my mental state and I am thankful for that (give the man an Oscar!!). Just like in this story, where Daniel sheds the clothes from his old life and steps into the light, I can see the light in the my own life and I am happy to say that I am walking towards it as well.
