Modern Lunatic

Looking at modern versions of mental patients and asylums will hopefully give me a more rounded idea of how I can make my design contemporary and fashion and something that could fit into a make-up video. I began by looking into music videos with this theme and continued looking at how mental patients were portrayed on screen in movies, and finally looked at photography that show the illness. 

I need to put a more "fashion" twist on my mental patient outcome, so I'm looking at other sources of things that are similar. This video by Colette Car shows her as a mental patient, although she is incredibly styled and made up with neon paint and contacts. It has really inspired me to be creative with my Bedlam Insomniac.

The second series of American Horror Story was set in a mental asylum and the styling and make-up department had me hooked the whole way through. Some of their mental patients are styled really well and have really inspired me in my own thinking and creation.

This is one of the more exaggerated American Horror Story characters. I found this really inspiring as its unlike any representation of any mental patient I have ever seen before, her appearance is almost comical yet terrifying at the same time.

This character stayed with me since I fist saw Shutter Island. She is one of the mental patients being held on the island and one of the few throughout the film who show obvious physical signs of mental illness. What I love about her is that although she has sunken eyes and withered skin and wisps of hair, you can see that she was once pretty.

This is the mother from The Devil Inside, a film about a woman who is opposed and being held in a mental asylum. She looks incredibly haggard and had big bags under her eyes and fly-away hair. What I like about how they presented this particular mental patient is that you can really see the physical strain that her illness has had on her. 

This is a more contemporary "fashion" portrait of a mental patient that I found  She is in a wheelchair and styled, but its the background and use of light and shadow and monochrome that suggests that she is in an asylum. The balloon is also very symbolic and has got me thinking about the possibility of using props in my own work.

The padded cell and constraints are shocking to the audience and suggests that not only is the subject insane but could also be a danger to both herself and others. The grand bed makes the shoot contemporary and suggests there's something not quite right about the place that she's being held in. Again the use of props seems to be prominent when using mental illness as a theme in fashion photography.