The genre of life narratives can be expressed through a wide range of mediums and photography is one that is becoming more prevalent today. Photographer Janelia Mould, from Cheeky Ingelosi Fine Art, specializes in photography that “tells a story” (Stewart, par.1.) Specifically, she does a series of images that represent depression. These images attempt to show her audience what it feels like for a person suffering from depression. Many of the images are portraits of her in various settings with one or more parts of the body missing. For example,  a few of her photos feature bodies without heads and some others include missing arms or legs. Mould explains the reason for having bodies with missing limbs is to show the “raw emotion felt by sufferers of depression” (Stewart, par.2). Every photo also has a caption, and many of them are quotes Mould finds online.

Below is one of her images which is captioned: ‘Dangling’ “Why can’t I try on different lives, like dresses, to see which one fits best?” – Sylvia Plath

 

Source: My Modern Met

The article “Interview: Photographer Explores Own Depression with Surreal Self-Portraits” by Jessica Stewart explains Mould’s art and an interview with her about her project on depression titled Melancholy– a girl called depression. Mould explains how her own depression inspired her to do this project and she describes her “photography as a therapeutic outlet” (Stewart, par.6). She also explains how through this project she wants to help people struggling with depression, for them to know that they are not alone. Mould describes depression as feeling “isolated, hopeless and empty”, she wanted her photos to allow others with depression to see someone else sharing a similar experience and give them hope that “there can be a way out/through it”  (Stewart, par.10). Mould also explains how she has received many letters from people who have viewed her art and how it really helped them when they were struggling with depression.

Mould’s photography project is similar in many ways to the Humans of New York page (HONY) . HONY is a website that shares photos of individuals (sometimes small group) along with a short write-up of something about them. There’s a series on HONY called “Invisible Wounds”,  which shares individuals stories of mental illness and trauma. HONY’s website along with its various social media pages is viewed by a large number of people every day, which is why it is incredibly important they have a series dedicated to “invisible wounds”. It is important so that people can learn what it is like to experience mental illness or problems in people’s lives that are not visible to a by stander. It is also significant for those who struggle with similar issues to see, on a popular website like HONY, that they are not alone. As Mould explains in her interview, depression makes you feel isolated and alone, which is why her work along with HONY can have a large impact on the audience while also teaching them a lot about “invisible wounds”.

Mould’s work and HONY both share life narratives through pictures along with brief descriptions. These life narratives have an impact on their audiences while expressing individuals stories that are important for people to hear. Life narratives have the ability to engage and move readers because they share real stories that the audience can relate and learn from.

This is a link to Janelia Mould’s Facebook page which shows much more of her amazing work. 

Here is a link to the “Invisible Wounds” page on HONY 

Works Cited

Stewart, Jessica. “Interview: Photographer Explores Own Depression with Surreal Self-Portraits.” Photography. My Modern Met, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.