Why Chosen:
I chose the surreal photographer Christian Hopkins for the exploration and development of my ideas due to his dark understandings of society. His work reflects his world of living with depression and how it is interpreted within society; the work is both personal and public. Some photographs are studies of his emotions as an individual and how loneliness and isolation are prevalent whereas others delve into society such as how the barrier is placed between people in society due to mental illness, the capitalist ideas that think life can be bought and how the medical world views mental illness.
Examples of Work:
Denotation: The subject is without their full anatomy due to the absence of a head leaving them anonymous in that respect, the subject is central to the image with the other props of interest displaying the identity also being central above the subject leaving sparse empty areas either side. The image is edited into black and white which evokes a specific tone to the finalised photographic study of surrealism.
Connotation: I believe that this image is about how we, as individuals, portray ourselves and how others perceive us through the many versions or portraits of ourselves. I also think that the dissected aspects of identity featured through the photo-frames convey how it feels to have the condition of depression in which many identities can often feel like they are fighting right beneath the outer exterior. The central image appears to convey the idea of the being trapped and isolated as is often associated with a "major depressive disorder"; the photographs on the wall are Hopkins' "inner life" and inner self.
Context: Hopkins in an interview revealed that "Being able to take emotions with which I was struggling out of my head and trap them in a photograph gave back to me a sense of control over my life... If only for a moment."; this conveys the idea behind this photograph in that he is capturing his emotions and trapping them in photographs so that he as the subject is free, at least briefly, from his depression.
Denotation: This photograph is constructed differently to the others in that it does not fit the same dimensions. The saturation is muted with a sepia-like filter and a more blue coloured hue overlay to evoke an eerie sense within the image. The antagonist of the photograph has three arms which again adds to the surreal nature of the final photograph.
Connotation: This image to me, after contextually researching the photographer, displays the routines of depression and conveys the daily battle with inner demons. The three arms of the creature could imply the past, present and future all grasping for the subject and pulling him in multiple directions. I believe the image to be more explicitly about the difficulty many people with depression have such as leaving their bed to face the day or insomnia. Although, the faceless figure obscured by the sheets also seems to be a symbol for the Grimm reaper as a potent reminder of how many people with depression commit suicide each year. Furthermore, the subject is grasping a soft toy in his arms which could infer the way that depression makes many people fear demons once again. Much like the ones believed to be under the bed or hiding when they themselves were a child.
Context: The photographer behind these images was diagnosed with depression at just 16 years old and thus the soft toy could represent the idea that depression can affect anyone even children as voiced by Hopkins when he stated "It affects millions of Americans every year -". Furthermore, the obscured reaper like character beneath the sheet is vital due to Hopkins attempting suicide. The area surrounding the subject is in the dark, an all "black void" with the "demon" blocking his path to the light. Additionally, Hopkins said that his earlier projects were based around other surrealist artists hew found on Flickr before he discovered his own style; it could be said that the ghost like characters could be reminiscent of Rene Magritte or a more modern photographer within the field of surrealism Christopher McKenney.
Denotation: The subject is central to the image with a symmetry to the composition. The subject's identity is obscured by a face covering with a mask in a jar held by the subject. The lighting is bright and backlit allowing shadows to form on the subject. The contrast between light tones and dark tones is prominent in the foreground of the photograph. The filter creates a blue coloured overlay.
Connotation: This particular image appears to be a study of how the individuality of self is lost when facing an illness such as depression. Due to the nature of depression being a mental illness many people with the condition feel that they, their self-constructed identities, are lost as the illness takes over. The mask could be symbolic of either the demons or the mask that the subject wears to hide themselves and their true emotions from others.
Context: Hopkins himself stated in an interview that "I don't have any captions for the photos. Despite [them] being self-portraits, I try to keep as much of myself out [of the photos] as possible." due to his desire for the audience to "elicit their own personal meaning from the image". The construction of the photographs are surreal as they are all "self-portraits" but more so in reference to being a reflection of the audience in how they see themselves within the work.
Denotation: The same location is used in this photo as is also used in two of the three featured above. The composition is again almost symmetrical. The colour is of a grey tint and blue filter with strong contrast between the light and dark tonal areas. The viewer is taken on a journey due to the composition in that the eye travels in a vertical line due to the hand from above juxtaposed to the many hands below.
Connotation: Without contextual information I would say that this image implies the materialistic nature of a capitalist society in which we try to buy life and time to avoid the grasps of death. Although, now with more information I believe that the image, titled 'Bargaining', from within the series '5 Stages of Grief' implies the feeling of being trapped once someone dies whether that it physically or metaphorically such as the death of self-identity. People try to buy more time with ones that they have lost by making deals with death.
Context: This series composed of 5 photographs took place over 5 consecutive days. The idea of grief is more variant from Hopkins' other works in that this series more explicitly studies other emotions rather than displaying the "symptoms of depression". Hopkins said that he hopes "that these pictures reveal the possibility of using photography as a powerful means of emotional expression, even if those emotions don't relate to mental illness.".
Denotation: The subject is without their full anatomy due to the absence of a head leaving them anonymous in that respect, the subject is central to the image with the other props of interest displaying the identity also being central above the subject leaving sparse empty areas either side. The image is edited into black and white which evokes a specific tone to the finalised photographic study of surrealism.
Connotation: I believe that this image is about how we, as individuals, portray ourselves and how others perceive us through the many versions or portraits of ourselves. I also think that the dissected aspects of identity featured through the photo-frames convey how it feels to have the condition of depression in which many identities can often feel like they are fighting right beneath the outer exterior. The central image appears to convey the idea of the being trapped and isolated as is often associated with a "major depressive disorder"; the photographs on the wall are Hopkins' "inner life" and inner self.
Context: Hopkins in an interview revealed that "Being able to take emotions with which I was struggling out of my head and trap them in a photograph gave back to me a sense of control over my life... If only for a moment."; this conveys the idea behind this photograph in that he is capturing his emotions and trapping them in photographs so that he as the subject is free, at least briefly, from his depression.
Denotation: This photograph is constructed differently to the others in that it does not fit the same dimensions. The saturation is muted with a sepia-like filter and a more blue coloured hue overlay to evoke an eerie sense within the image. The antagonist of the photograph has three arms which again adds to the surreal nature of the final photograph.
Connotation: This image to me, after contextually researching the photographer, displays the routines of depression and conveys the daily battle with inner demons. The three arms of the creature could imply the past, present and future all grasping for the subject and pulling him in multiple directions. I believe the image to be more explicitly about the difficulty many people with depression have such as leaving their bed to face the day or insomnia. Although, the faceless figure obscured by the sheets also seems to be a symbol for the Grimm reaper as a potent reminder of how many people with depression commit suicide each year. Furthermore, the subject is grasping a soft toy in his arms which could infer the way that depression makes many people fear demons once again. Much like the ones believed to be under the bed or hiding when they themselves were a child.
Context: The photographer behind these images was diagnosed with depression at just 16 years old and thus the soft toy could represent the idea that depression can affect anyone even children as voiced by Hopkins when he stated "It affects millions of Americans every year -". Furthermore, the obscured reaper like character beneath the sheet is vital due to Hopkins attempting suicide. The area surrounding the subject is in the dark, an all "black void" with the "demon" blocking his path to the light. Additionally, Hopkins said that his earlier projects were based around other surrealist artists hew found on Flickr before he discovered his own style; it could be said that the ghost like characters could be reminiscent of Rene Magritte or a more modern photographer within the field of surrealism Christopher McKenney.
Denotation: The subject is central to the image with a symmetry to the composition. The subject's identity is obscured by a face covering with a mask in a jar held by the subject. The lighting is bright and backlit allowing shadows to form on the subject. The contrast between light tones and dark tones is prominent in the foreground of the photograph. The filter creates a blue coloured overlay.
Connotation: This particular image appears to be a study of how the individuality of self is lost when facing an illness such as depression. Due to the nature of depression being a mental illness many people with the condition feel that they, their self-constructed identities, are lost as the illness takes over. The mask could be symbolic of either the demons or the mask that the subject wears to hide themselves and their true emotions from others.
Context: Hopkins himself stated in an interview that "I don't have any captions for the photos. Despite [them] being self-portraits, I try to keep as much of myself out [of the photos] as possible." due to his desire for the audience to "elicit their own personal meaning from the image". The construction of the photographs are surreal as they are all "self-portraits" but more so in reference to being a reflection of the audience in how they see themselves within the work.
Denotation: The same location is used in this photo as is also used in two of the three featured above. The composition is again almost symmetrical. The colour is of a grey tint and blue filter with strong contrast between the light and dark tonal areas. The viewer is taken on a journey due to the composition in that the eye travels in a vertical line due to the hand from above juxtaposed to the many hands below.
Connotation: Without contextual information I would say that this image implies the materialistic nature of a capitalist society in which we try to buy life and time to avoid the grasps of death. Although, now with more information I believe that the image, titled 'Bargaining', from within the series '5 Stages of Grief' implies the feeling of being trapped once someone dies whether that it physically or metaphorically such as the death of self-identity. People try to buy more time with ones that they have lost by making deals with death.
Context: This series composed of 5 photographs took place over 5 consecutive days. The idea of grief is more variant from Hopkins' other works in that this series more explicitly studies other emotions rather than displaying the "symptoms of depression". Hopkins said that he hopes "that these pictures reveal the possibility of using photography as a powerful means of emotional expression, even if those emotions don't relate to mental illness.".
good research here..
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