Often, looking at a person’s eyes are the first tool we use to decode their emotional state, in person or in a photograph. Body language, which is often overlooked, is also very telling and can provide clues to read internal feelings. Through body language, there is a completely different side that is shown. The inspiration for this project emerged from an interest in using body language instead of a person’s face or eyes to illustrate what depression and sadness might look like. During the process of photographing, I realized that not everyone deals with depression in the same way.

By using a blindfold on the characters in the images, I block the viewer from looking at the subject’s eyes. Using line and obstructing what the viewer can see, I create other perspectives for the viewer to enter while experiencing the book; the first is of the subject I’m photographing and the second is of the viewer looking at the subjects. The landscapes are arranged to provide a calming feeling, in contrast to the portraits, and some are meant to create a space within a space. They ask the viewer to think about the different emotions created within each image and what these emotions actually mean.