Assignment 5: Exploring Autism

The brief for my assignment is to create a series of images for an autism awareness campaign. Images will be displayed in a similar way to an advertising campaign, through social media and on posters in areas of busy traffic such as shopping centres and doctors’ waiting rooms. My submission, featuring Bonnie, an autistic teenaged girl will complete the first stage of the campaign. I have chosen to start the campaign with a girl as to challenge the idea that autism is a mainly male disability.

Lorna Wing’s paper on sex ratios in early childhood autism states that among people with 'high-functioning autism' or Asperger syndrome there were 15 times as many males as females., In people with learning difficulties as well as autism however, the male to female ratio was closer to 2:1.

“This could suggest that, while women and girls are less likely to develop autism, when they do they are more severely impaired. Alternatively, it could suggest 'high-functioning' women and girls with autism have been under diagnosed, compared to men and boys.” (Wing L. 1981)

The key diagnostic features of autism are difficulties in social interaction, social communication and imagination, however factors such as obsessions and sensory sensitivities also play a key part. Due to behaviour issues arising from these difficulties and a fear of social situations, life for autistic people and their families can become quite isolated, leading to a lack of knowledge and understanding from society as a whole. For this reason, I felt that the home was an ideal setting for my project.

Photographing Bonnie in her home, I observed her behaviours and discussed with Debbie, her mother the impact autism has on Bonnie and the family as a whole. Due to Bonnie’s reduced ability to understand and follow instructions, my images are mainly documentary in nature, however we did manage to use some set up situations.

I feel that most people with an understanding of autism would easily grasp the message in my images, however in order to extend to a wider audience, some explanatory text is used. Xyza Cruz Bacani pairs images with text in her project, ‘Humans of Makati’ to give an insight into the world of the city’s locals; the accompanying text gives a quote or some information on their hopes and aspirations as well as their views on Makati. I like that a few short sentences shows a relatively in depth view into the individual’s character; I feel that the direct quote from those photographed gives a direct link to that person’s thoughts and feelings, adding to the content of the image.

The text that accompanies my images gives a fuller understanding of what each image represents, leaving enough ambiguity to allow the viewer to add their own interpretation based on personal experience. I have used quotations from Bonnie’s family, aiming to keep the quotes direct and to the point in a bid to inform, without swaying the viewer’s ability to read the image objectively.

Considering each aspect of Bonnie’s experiences with autism, I have aimed to omit any visual distraction by closing in on the action and using a shallow depth of field, directing the viewer’s gaze towards the intended part of the image.

The most rewarding image for me personally was a close up portrait of Bonnie wearing the earphones, which protect her from sensory overload. As I took the shot, Bonnie stared intently into the lens. Eye contact is something that autistic people often struggle with so I felt privileged that the black mass of technology between us enabled such a connection. The direct eye contact reminded me of Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl, giving me hope that the viewer may get a glimpse into Bonnie’s world through her intense gaze.

“What her intense, sea-green eyes told the world ... a thousand diplomats and relief workers could not. The Afghan girl’s stare drilled into our collective subconscious and stopped a heedless Western world dead in its tracks. Here was the snare of truth. We knew her instantly, and we could no longer avoid caring.” Robert Draper?

I would dream of creating an image with such power.

I have created a series of images, which I feel represent autism as Bonnie experiences it and would like to return to this topic and explore autism through the eyes of others. The enormity of this challenge with such a myriad of difficulties, manifesting in so many different ways would be far too great for this assignment, but one I would love to continue in the future.

Evaluation:

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

Each image that I have chosen represents a different aspect of daily life for Bonnie and her family. Due to limited space and light, I retained a large aperture throughout in order to maintain the fast shutter speed required to photograph Bonnie’s sporadic movement; using flash was not an option. I have used a variety of compositions and made the most of the shallow depth of field by using it focus on the aspect or activity I aimed to show.

Quality of outcome

Although my images show a great love and closeness between Bonnie and her mum, Bonnie has a reduced awareness of personal acts that show that we care for someone; her caring nature however does extend to the pets. I have aimed to show different aspects of the mother/daughter relationship, as well as their methods of communication, equipment used and a brief glimpse into daily life for Bonnie and her family. I had anticipated that photographing an invisible disability would be difficult so had prepared some ideas beforehand, although with autism being so specific to the individual, I also took advice from Bonnie’s mum as to which elements she felt it relevant to show. Some images were more spontaneous, taken while observing Bonnie throughout the day.

Demonstration of creativity

The book, Expressive Photography, the Shutter Sisters’ Guide to Shooting from the Heart gives a wealth of practical advice about shooting details, which I felt would be important for this assignment. I feel that their advice, twinned with making the best of difficult space and lighting have enabled me to produce a varied and creative set, focusing on the key elements required for purpose.  Images showing the rocking chair, telling the time and writing are examples of closing in on the details in order to emphasise a point. I feel that the final image with Bonnie looking directly to camera is given more resonance in its contrast to the other images in which Bonnie is oblivious to the camera.

Context

Research for this assignment, aside from that on autism has covered visual storytelling & conceptual photography, presenting images with captions and studying photographers portraying invisible and mental health issues in their work.

Bibliography

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Smith, M. (2016) These photographs perfectly capture how autistic children behave walesonline. Available from: <http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/beautiful-photographs-perfectly-capture-how-10705330> [Accessed 24 May 2016].

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Whitelocks, S. (2013) Father photographs five-year-old autistic son’s unique behavior. Daily Mail, 15 November. Available from: <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2507376/Father-Timothy-Archibald-photographs-5-year-old-autistic-son-Elijahs-unique-behavior.html> [Accessed 24 May 2016].

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