O L I V I A  B R A C L E Y

Danger is defined as a person or thing that is likely to cause harm or injury. People typically think of others as being a danger, but this is not always the case. How can you be a danger to yourself? This is a question that I have decided to answer through a photograph.

In today’s society, people, primarily teenagers and young adults, have difficulty expressing their emotions. These emotions build and cause emotional pain, and the only way to combat the emotional pain is to cause physical pain or to take their life. In media, one of the most common ways people take their life is by overdosing. In my photo, I want to depict a teenage girl being a danger to herself. The danger in my photo is the combination of the pills and emotional pain. The girl is contemplating taking the pills.

To capture my photo, I used a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera in RAW format. To set the scene, I exaggerated the number of pill bottles on the counter to ensure the idea of overdosing is not overlooked. I decided to make the lighting dark and dingy to give the photo a feeling of distress and pain. I experimented with the lighting by adjusting the aperture on the DSLR. The aperture affects how much light is let into the camera.