Photographic images about body image (No. 3)

mirror nikimarie actually reflection problem Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

THINKING:

One of the key problem areas with respect to body image is body dysmorphia. Simply put the person sees something completely different in the mirror than actually reality.

A classis anorexic will see a large, lumpen figure and be completely unaware and unable to see that they are actually desperately thin.

It is hard to understand body dysmorphia without direct experience, I suppose we all see ourselves slightly differently to how we actually are, but when forced can normally see an objective image of ourselves. (Personally, I have more hair in my mind, but the mirror tells me otherwise if I really look).

This is a representation of that idea, with a healthy figured NikiMarie seeing a bloated version of herself in the mirror.

SEEING:

While wanting to keep the image simple with little background distraction it was also important to ensure the viewer would understand this is a mirror reflection. Particularly since the two bodies do not match.

Shooting against a plain wall would not have given sufficient clues, so we used the wall with a plain decoration on it to reinforce the reflection.

DOING:

For a number of reasons it was not possible to capture this image directly in camera. It is actually a montage. The principle problem was of not being able to find a workable angle that let us see front and back of NikiMarie and not obscure herself in the mirror. There is also an issue of sharpness, since the relative distances from the real NikiMarie and the reflected one are quite different.

So, one image is shot looking from behind NikiMarie. A second image is then shot from the front. I spent some time making sure the effective angles would work properly.

Then in post production I expanded, pushed and fattened the front view to create the distorted image.

 
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mirror nikimarie actually reflection problem Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

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