Seasons of the Mind - A Photographic Manipulation Project for Mental Health Day in Collaboration with Mind, UK.
Each Original Art Work is 50cm x 72cm
Photography - Marius Els
Photo Manipulation - Marius Els
Models - Marius Els and Sami Lanouar
Seasons of the Mind is a self-portrait series and project about Mental Health.
The images are bright, colourful, quirky and even fun, hoping to close the gap between audience and the stigma towards mental health.
Each image is a journey and ask the viewer to compare their own feelings with the ones in the image. The heads open and exposed with fantastical explosions of extreme happiness and sadness, telling many stories around feelings and emotions that are hard to express through words.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Finale
Seasons of the Mind, the Collection.
Process
In this series I used myself as a subject with different facial expressions, being conscious of my personal experience and relationship with manic depression. I photograph all the objects in the images with a Canon EOS7D, either in my home studio, local parks or museums in London. I use a mixture of day and halogen lights in my home studio, rarely changing the set-up. This makes the finale photo montage process smoother, considering shadows and highlights. I play with digital collage and montage methods and finally blending with photoshop textures to give it a painterly effect.
In these images I followed a method, with the character centred and the background setting the mood. The mind opening up, revealing complex chaotic thoughts around mania and depression are expressed through subtle stories or symbols.
A series like this is a lengthy process and was developed over a two year period.
Seasons of the Mind was exhibited as a solo exhibition at Dragon Cafe, Southwark, London and Park Theatre, London, in collaboration with UK Mind.
I always enjoy going back to these images, getting lost in the detail and underlying stories that I am still discovering.
