These series of photographs deal with the subject of stigmatism and stereotyping that surround issues of mental health. Often, a derogatory term is used in defining a person with a mental health problem and their actions. This is often based on a limited knowledge of the illness and is further aggravated by today’s media.

When un-wrapping a package one day I realized how the wording on packaging tapes could be used to describe a person’s mental fragility. Warnings such as ‘Do Not Use’, ‘Caution’, ‘Fragile’, ‘Handle With Care’ and ‘Reject’ can be transformed into slogans like the type we see of fashion t-shirts telling the world of our views.

The wrapping of my body in this tape shows how a word used to portray someone could (unwittingly) cause someone to become 'wrapped up' or ‘bound’ by this term and, in turn, start to label themselves or even act as that word suggests. The body is shown as broken (the tape seemingly holding it together), confined because it is dangerous (the wrapping and the colour of the lettering on the tape) and the mind fragile (the phrases on the tape). The title suggests that I am not bound by choice. This draws parallels with the fragmentation of the body and mind, both in the medical profession and the media, where in both cases sometimes the whole, or ‘real’ person, is lost.

From this piece I hope to challenge the view of what is deemed as normal. Society imposes a pressure that we should all conform and conceal any ‘abnormality’. Forcing us into a mould as an object, rather than as an individual.

This project if for my BA Fine Art Degree show.

With thanks to Stephen Cornford for taking the photos.

These are just a few of my favourite photos from the 100+ we took.