This image has more meaning for me that will probably mean to others, but hear me out.
Background story
In the past, I've dealt with depression and anxiety mostly related to my career and passion - photography. I struggled for a few years to find my niche and start to make money off out of it and hearing that I will not make it every single day from people around me extremely was painful. Here in Romania, we don't have too many portrait photographer, and most people here don't like to share their "work secrets".
One thing that helped me out a lot and encouraged me to make peace with my madness was talking with other photographers around the world who have already made it in this industry and the way photo communities around the word praised my weirdness and my not so usual style of taking colorful portraits. I started to understand that you can have success around the globe without nobody from your town knowing it and that there are so many people in this world that the only thing you actually have to do is find the right community, even if it is just an online one. Talking to people who struggle with the same problems as you do will help you all find answers. So if you are struggling with something my advice is to look on facebook for groups of people who have the same passions as you.
What this image means to me
For me, this image symbolizes the moment I made peace with my demons and started to embrace my madness. Here the madness is symbolized by a white rabbit - a small reference to the famous novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll but with a twist.
The mask I chose to represent the white rabbit is low poly to contrast the round shapes of my model's haircut and the background is blue a color that usually calms people down another contrast with the color I picked for the model's outfit. Red is a powerful color in general, but here is desaturated to show the lack of power I felt inside myself at that time.
I know that it might be odd for some of you to create an image with so many contrasts when you want to express inner peace but the pose tells it all, no need for happy colors or a big smile.
mask design by wintercroft.
| Category | #portraitphotography |
| Camera | Nikon D7000 |
| Lens | Nikon 50mm |
| Light | 3 speedlights |
| Location | bedroom studio |
If this photo has any other meaning for you, I would love to hear from you in the comments below. I am sure a conceptual image like this can have a tone of different meanings depending on the person who is looking at it.