Photo Essay

[acryforhelp]

One of my photography projects for school is a photo essay. I want to do it from my sister's perspective of what this journey has been like for her. I am a little stuck though. Trying to plan out my shots but have them appropriate enough to show in class. I struggle with major depression, cutting, self harm and bulimia....any thoughts on how I could go about this?

[HeroesAndCons]

Sorry to burst your bubble but if i were you I wouldn't do your essay on that. You don't know the reactions of people and the teachers have the right to call home and make you see the schools social worker. And trust me them finding out is the worst and scariest feeling out there. Plus school people don't handle cases right (they thought i was going to kill myself cause i believe in a zombie apocolypse) Maybe you can do a much more positive approach. Positive photos when I take them is theraputic.

[Kaede]

It sounds like a good idea but is there any way of doing a non-triggering photo project about that? I know school is triggering enough for most people but I think I'd completely flip out if I had to see SH related photos while there.
I know I wouldn't like to trigger anyone else. Just in case.

[acryforhelp]

I was talking about doing this project in a more indirect manner.....so that its not totally revealing or triggering...that is why i wanted to do it from my sister's perspective.

[georgiamay]

Sorry to burst your bubble but if i were you I wouldn't do your essay on that. You don't know the reactions of people and the teachers have the right to call home and make you see the schools social worker. And trust me them finding out is the worst and scariest feeling out there. Plus school people don't handle cases right (they thought i was going to kill myself cause i believe in a zombie apocolypse) Maybe you can do a much more positive approach. Positive photos when I take them is theraputic.

Telling people that your school/teachers finding out is the worst thing that can happen, is not going to help. By saying that you're saying that she shouldn't tell anyone about it, but telling someone is the only way people can start to recover, and sometimes, school is the first place to start. Maybe you had a bad experience, and my experience wasn't great, I'll admit that, but that doesn't mean it can't help other people.

Anyways, I think that if you're going to do it in an indirect way (which is the best way to go about it if you ask me), you'll probably need to use a lot of symbolism. It's obviously going to be quite a personal topic, so I don't think you'll get much help from us, I think it's up to you. Try and use photo's that remind you of depression, and the feelings that lead to self harm and bulimia. But again, I think taking a subtle, symbolic approach would be the best way to go about it.

[Kaede]

I was talking about doing this project in a more indirect manner.....so that its not totally revealing or triggering...that is why i wanted to do it from my sister's perspective.

Still, in a stressful environment (school) anything related to SH could be triggering.

Although since it's your project, how did it affect your sister? It's very hard to help on a project if we've no idea what her thoughts and feelings on the topic are.