Images 1, 5, 8 and 11 are beautiful to me; in them I feel the utter isolation of somebody with suicidal ideology.

The more obvious images disturb me, primarily because imagery which glamorizes suicide can spark contagion and the thought of that saddens me. Nonetheless, it is your role to express your personal story in your way and you have certainly done that here.

Anything that brings awareness and discussion to the issue of mental health and suicide and the stigma that surrounds them is positive and I hope the process of creating this series has been healing to you.

Congratulations on being an EPF finalist with this work.

i would agree….

GORDON

i was totally surprised that you were the only one who noticed a possible humor here, most particularly #3…i thought that too,but then thought, no not possible an intended dark humor…still do not know what to make of it…

I comment very seldom and have never responded with a negatively toned critique. I’m usually only moved to speak by extreme emotion.. but in this case, I feel motivated to speak by my lack of emotion. I read your Artist’s Statement before I viewed the work- as I always do, because I give equal credence to both parts of a piece of work (after all, doesn’t the ‘thinking’ come first?)

The statement was vague, yet it compels me. Viewing your photography, I did not get a sense of that same vagueness, or discreteness.. the images seem almost childish in their reproduction of mental states and suicidal tendencies. Childishness is not necessarily a negative word to use when describing some artist’s works, but in this case.. it seemed too stated, unemotional and overworked. I’m not sure that I got the feeling of an individual experience (which I know that it was for you). What I did get was the feeling of a representation of an experience that has been depicted over and over again.

Are these personal? What are you hiding beneath the post processing? The (what I believe is..) HDR editing is distracting. Sometimes beautiful things lie behind the darkness, but in this case the darkness is a necessary element. Let it be. I would have liked to see the images and feelings stand on their own, without the barbies, fake blood and artifice.

Maybe I’m a traditionalist.. or I need to feel like I’m inferring something to feel intelligent. ..but I just feel like the things left unsaid speak louder than those stated clearly.

I appreciate that this was a challenge for you, and that you’re pushing yourself to explore uncomfortable territories.

Once again, a very sincere congratulations to you.

-Kate

Mike.

It is always my habit to read the statement before viewing the photographs. However,partially because of a you made a response to someone recently, to the effect that you judge the essays on the merit of the pictures, I decided not to read the statement before viewing. Viewed on it’s own, without the context of the statement, my reaction was that it seemed melodramatic and a bit humorous.

I beleive absolutely in photography and art as personal therapy. It is what I practice every day as I try to underscore the beauty and joy of my life. My life through rose-coloured glasses. It’s what keeps me from descending into the dark pit. These are personal photographs, with personal references, not intended to speak to anyone but myself.

As with Bees, I’m sure the making these photographs was a healing experience for the makers. If these essays are to be judged from that perspective, OK.

I do admit I was very hard last night, but it was always on the CONCEPT of suicide, not the artist and I do agree creating art from one’s ills is the truest form of expression. My love of life does funnily enough, limit my perspective…
I am also very grateful for Frostfrog’s comment, it really did make me open my eyes – but I wonder how many others would of reacted as well.

of course you may dismiss his efforts…you already have… and who is being chastised for insensitivity? my point was , i thought, that who knows how do deal with suicide ? do i not get to give a simple point of view without it being considered wrist slapping? please…my feeling is that all of the comments so far have been thought provoking one way or another…no chastising intended

there are three photographers and friends of mine on this forum who you all know who have showed me suicide essays they have done following a suicide in their own family…one of them was published here on Burn…one more will be…none of these three essays bear any resemblance to each other in approach and none of the essays even resemble the normal style of the photographer…

i once had an assignment to shoot an emergency medical team in new york..picking up suicide victims was part of their job and part of mine as well at the time…as Jim says, there is no drama…empty…i remember a beautiful young woman dressed in expensive clothes lying on a bed in a top nyc hotel room ..a bottle of pills beside her and a note the only clues she was not just taking a nap…empty…and why?

the photographers i know here on this forum who have attempted to reconcile their loss do whatever they have to do with their photographic skills…they must do something….

i do not know, nor have ever met, the photographer Tushikur featured here now, but i can see that he is using whatever tools he has in his head to deal with whatever he has to deal with…set up “fake” pictures? i do not think there was anything fake about what was going on in his head and the demons he was dealing with were surely not “fake”…what exactly would you expect him to do if he chose this way to express his loss? you might even want to factor in a cultural milieu that would affect the way an essay of this personal nature was done by a particular photographer….Tushikur was dealing as best he could…whether or not he “succeeded” as a photographer is less important than his own catharsis..the attempt at least makes the emptiness less empty…

cheers, david

I read the artist’s statement before viewing the slideshow, and was looking forward to the photos but was immediately put off by the obviously fake blood in number 2. Number 5 did strongly resonate with me – the ghostly hands, piecing back together the family photo. It immediately made me think of an interview I once heard with a man who survived jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge. As soon as he jumped, he regretted his actions, and after recovering, began speaking to groups against suicide.