State of Mind

Daydreamer
(In moments of stillness, the action happens Inside)

In the process of keeping up with 365 Project, I've begun the second of my photography projects for goal #12 (Complete 3 Photography Projects).

State of Mind explores different emotions and mental states through a series of 'faceless' self-portraits, each one being a personification of those mental states or emotions: the residents of 'The State of Mind'. 

Inflated Ego
(That moment of smug big-headedness)

This is still a fledgeling project so I'm still developing the ideas!
Considering the subject matter of this and A Strange Pair, it seems matters relating to psychology are of interest to me, doesn't it!

Discombobulating
(Confused, surprised, trying to comprehend)

I started off using a few handheld props, but am looking to make more use of masks and/or headpieces, to give an effect of the head being Different rather than merely having something held in front of it...

Poisonous
(Those negative thoughts that catch us unawares)

In the image above, I reused the mask I made for one of the prompts on Delightful Aberrations some time ago! I'm glad I kept it. Comparing the above image to the one created last time I used this mask, I can see how much I've benefitted (technically at least) from my cheapo camera remote. Life is so much easier when you don't have ten seconds to rush between camera and backdrop!

Idealist
(Too many flowery thoughts, not enough roots in reality)

I also discovered that I can 'MacGuyver' together a flower mask using tissue paper, staples, an elastic band and a piece of bent wire!

This project has been fun so far, and I've started to think a lot more about each persona. I'll likely take more in future, since there are so many more mental states to consider--and just like Poisonous, they are not always good.

The State of Mind, like any state, province or county, has its bad guys.

Stop!

Things That Stop The Flow

After a few weeks of brainlessness, I'm finally participating in the theme challenge at Delightful Aberrations!
This week, one of the prompts was stop.
I worked this into my project, A Strange Pair, which I originally started partly for the challenge and partly for goal #12 (Complete 3 photography projects).

I've been continuing the project, and had planned to post all the images together when I'd finished it, but today I got my hands on the items to take the image above, which is a pairing that comes directly from Daniel Nettle's book, Strong Imagination: Madness, Creativity and Human Nature:

"When asked to sort pictures of objects into classes, schizophrenics often depart from those categories most intuitively accessible to the rest of us, such as 'tools' or 'fruit'. One subject put together a bath plug, a padlock, and a circle of red paper 'because all three stop flows or processes'."

- Nettle, D. (2001). Strong Imagination: Madness, Creativity and Human Nature.
Oxford University Press, Oxford

Since 'stop' was one of the prompts for this week's challenge, it seemed the obvious choice! It works for the prompt, and works for my project, too!

I still have more ideas for A Strange Pair which I haven't photographed yet. It's a real exercise of the mind to figure out these pairings, without them being too obvious or typical!

One Year Music Challenge: Top Ten

At the end of last year, I completed my One Year Music Challenge, which I did for a goal from The List:

029. Listen to 2 new musical acts every week for 1 year

I used this goal to push my boundaries and try music from genres I don't normally listen to alongside the rock/pop styles that I usually have on my playlist!
Between suggestions from friends and googling phrases like "musicians from [random country]", I ended up with a huge list of artists to try out--far more than I actually needed, in fact!

Once the challenge was over, I used a handy tool from traveltip to generate a map of all the countries from which I'd listened to music. I thought I'd listened to a lot of music from around the world, but as it turns out, it was only just under 19% of the world's countries!

Admittedly it was harder to find music online for artists from some countries. Then again maybe I was looking in the wrong place.

Anyway, this challenge was fun, and through it I found a lot of musical acts that I really liked!

Here comes my top ten.
Those that put up with my waffle on a regular basis can probably guess who is at number one...

10. Kitaro (Japan)
Super-relaxing New Age instrumental music! I first heard this artist in week 16 of the challenge, and go back to the music every time I want something peaceful to relax and daydream to!
Kitaro Official Website

March Roundup & 365

Paper (60/365)

Though I titled this 'March Roundup & 365', I have to admit this post is mostly about, 'here are the photos I took for my 365 Project during March' rather than 'here are the things I've done'.

Unclothed (61/365)	Flying Leopard (62/365)
Drooping (63/365)	Fresh-faced (64/365)

I started off the month with the intention of doing a lot--another daytrip to Portsmouth (this time with my sister), a trip out with a friend from college, some local events and several trips out on my own to go to some museums, or just to wander around and take photos. That is alongside writing one piece of flash fiction every day this month!