And so my Parkinson's project has started

[binga63]

My face is like concrete.
I know that I am smiling, but no one can see it.
When I am sad, only my tears give it away.
What if you were me?
How would you connect,
if you only had your eyes
and your mouth was closed?
What if?

Concrete by Chris Crossley, on Flickr

 

[squirrels]

Congratulations on starting your project! I'm moved and excited for you and not sure how to express my feelings but wanted to know that I'm sending you supportive thoughts! I'm looking forward to what you post next!

 

[binga63]

Thank you squirrels ....the only image that I can share at the moment from yesterday...each person gave something different
this lady is 10 000 miles from her love.....her emotion was true... rough edit

 

[pgriz]

The eyes are probably the first thing we notice about another person, and eye contact is the first moment of connection. What follows (speech, movement, changes in posture) built upon that initial contact. It takes much more effort to connect with another person if the eye contact is not there.

In contrast, sometimes you do have eye contact, but there is an emptiness behind those eyes - whether due to dementia, or profound shock, or drug-induced side-effects, and that emptiness is very troubling.

Your portraits are very powerful. The tears reveal to us the inner person behind those eyes. We may not know the reason for the pain, but we can relate to the presence of it and its effect on the person, and by sympathetic extension, on us.

 

[mmaria]

Chris, I'm not good at words as Paul is (well, rare are good as Paul is ) but I really admire you for doing this project and I simply can't put my thoughts into proper words...

#1 you did again and easily something that's been extremely dificult for me.... No, after all this time, I still haven't succeded

 

[KenC]

Just amazing - both the self-portrait and the other shot.

 

[timor]

It is strong. Good concept, well done.

 

[binga63]

Thanks for the positive vibes....I 8/10ths finished only 6 people left to shoot....I'll explain the reason behind the water and my thinking.....
The use of the water is:

1. to keep a common thread

2. what I asked each person was to think of an emotion and portray it using only their eyes but to take a little control from them
I first asked them to immerse their faces into a fresh bowl of water.
And then without wiping their eyes show that emotion.Without a mirror and with water in your eyes that is alot harder than you think.
It all ties into Parkinson's we think that we smile or frown but in fact only our eyes are showing the true mood. Everyone picked a different emotion, nothing was coached, and as I didn't know what the emotion was until after I could only shoot what I saw.
If at anytime the person began to think, and yes you can see the change in their eyes and face, the shoot was over.
No reshoots either.
Does it make sense?

 

[funwitha7d]

you are right there, I don't so much get the water but the eyes, wholly heck, its almost too much to see that emotion, sometimes a great image is hard to look at (hope that does not sound bad)