Co-proxamol poisoning was a popular method of poisoning leading to death, this is usually performed via a car or a gas oven. However this method of suicide has decreased as the switch from coal gas to natural gas in London suicide rates dropped by 33% it was the most popular method before the change. What is interesting about the research is that it is mainly women who used this approach to suicide, of which gave me a strong foundation to create a fictional character from, it makes me question is it a feminist act as women were and still are associated with the kitchen, so there they must die.
What is intriguing is that females are more likely to commit suicide via gas inhalation why? An insightful experimentation scholary "Gender and Suicide Method: Do Women Avoid Facial
Disfiguration?" (Valerie J. Callanan & Mark S. Davis)
This abstract Attempts to explain why with evidenced data, the social experiment asked a large number of females and males what their choice of method would be if they were to commit suicide and why. The males chose more aggressive methods such as firearms, whereas the most common answer amongst females was the method of an overdose or gas inhalation, when questioned about the method the most common answer was that it seemed to be more painless. However is there a deeper issue such as even when females are dead they still want to be perceived as attractive? Particularly in Western culture it is important that females are the most attractive sex, we see it in the media on advertisements, in films that females who die still look fairly attractive, almost everything we see is dominated by female appearance, from a young age we are taught through western culture that being pretty is important they get what they want. Although this study is only culturally generalised so cannot be applied to every culture. What is interesting about the abstract is that a growing body of research suggests that suicides (apart from those suffering with mental health issues) are often triggered by a string of stressful events such as a death in the family, loss of job and a martial dissolution (Hendin et al 2001. Maltsberger. et. al 2003. Mann, 2004)
The belief that women commit suicide in a way that they may be found more attractive is underpinned by high profile suicides such as writers Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath of which are both important figures within my research for gas inhalation Anne Sexton. Why are they important to the viewer? They broke the wall of speaking about mental health issues and self-destructivness in a time where women did not have a voice, their deaths make a stamen perhaps a cry for help along with their writings.
Sylvia Plath.
Plath a renowned post-war poet is celebrated for her violent emotive works and her obsession with death Plath's literal works are a 'must read' within my project, to help identify some of the issues leading her to tragically end her life. Her pieces could be perceived as a cry for help. Pinsky referred to Plaths poems as a person who is in love with an ideal self. It has been identified that Plath suffered with depression, had unresolved conflicts with her parents and appears to have suffered having an abusive childhood, Plath attempted suicide at the age of 19 by taking an overdose of sleeping tablets. In 1942 Plath's marriage to writer Ted Hughes ended leaving her to look after her two children she later committed suicide by gas inhalation in 1963.
The question that springs to my mind is was Plath considered a feminist? Although I am aware that during the 50's era feminism was not that advanced many elements of Plath screams feminist to myself. Plath was an admin a devoted writer, and a famous on at that that takes time, passion and determination of which results in a career, a female that had a successful career without a male was almost unheard of during this era. Her fame as writer communicates to myself that society opinion did not bother her, of which I view as empowering. In Plath's poem "Last Word's" (1961) a verse reads “let me have my copper cooking pots, let my rouge pots / bloom about me like night flowers, with a good smell”. This could be decoded as being humorous mocking society, however what I find most intriguing is the fact that Plath was found dead in her oven where of course she would cook, was this a sign of how she was going to commit suicide?
Reflection on research.
What I found interesting about the research in this post, is that does gender effect how one may choose to commit suicide? I had never considered gender to have a result on how someone may choose to commit suicide, ultimately it cannot be said that females avoid facial disfigurement when committing suicide as a fact, however subconsciously it is considered to have an impact. I asked myself the question of if I was to commit suicide how would I choose my method? Admittedly I would choose to overdose, as I feel as though it would be a less 'disturbing' way for my parents to find me, I also think it would cause less pain, so I suppose I do consider the way I would look when dying.
As it is mainly women who committed suicide via gas inhalation in the oven is this making more of a statement? Is it proposing perhaps feminist or sexist values? I possibly think so the women in the images appear to look rather glamorous as the images look as though they are not from this era, the way that they are clothed suggests they are older, perhaps dressed in a way that suggests they have a family or have arrived home from work. I think the way that I will look in my images will give some clue to the viewer my back ground story, of perhaps marks on the body that suggest an abusive relationship, self harm or even a dramatic event that has lead the character to her death. The research will explain the image of who she is and suggestions as to what has happened.
Makeup design.
The character has found out her husband has been unfaithful of which has pushed her to the limit, she is tired of being treated badly not only by her other half but in the workplace and her life.
How does the makeup communicate this?
The makeup is fairly natural and will look slightly worn, as if it has been worn all day at work. The look is meant to be of a realistic standard of the average women arriving home from work late. The marks on her arm indicate a possibility of domestic abuse or self harm, the bruises have been created on the pressure points of which are hard to create indicating that they were created purposefully.
The makeup in the image above I would say is of a standard of the average woman, this is what I mean by realistic looking makeup.
I feel as though a warm eye with a natural base, and natural contour under the cheek bones is achievable by most females, the brows are rather strong but this was due to dramatic lighting, eyebrows are extremely important when conveying emotion, the use of contour will make the images more effective with darker lighting. Product wise I used a light tinted moisturiser which evened the skin out and gave little coverage as older women tend to wear less makeup in general.
I had to make the bruising extra heavy again this was due to dramatic lighting, I created them so they looked fairly new to indicate that the character has literally been pushed to this act, it was an impulsive act.
Kitchen photoshoot.
Reflection on production.
To make this narrative more effective I decided that I wanted to shoot the Kitchen series in the evening as I felt this would look more dramatic, some may question why I did not use artificial lighting and post production to re-create an evening lighting and atmosphere, my reply would be that I like natural lighting as I feel it always looks more effective and helps me to get in character and to really imagine that this is happening in reality. I decided that it would be interesting if we were to position the camera inside the oven, so that the spectator can get the perspective as if they were inside the oven, I am yet to see this been done when re-enacting gas oven inhalation, this was difficult as the photographer could not see my expressions or the the angle of the camera so it took a lot of shots get images that showed my face, however after many trials I was happy that I had some shots to use to show the narrative. I wanted to use a clean oven as this represents not only modernity but it creates reflections of which I love Francesca Woodman used a lot of reflections in her images she is an influential photographer to me in general so unconsciously I suppose Woodman’s infatuation with reflection has transferred into this piece, as well as exploring political and feminity factors. Overall I feel as though this shoot is very much tamed and less graphic in comparison to the others of which I feel is a positive attribute as it is good to have balance, as if all of my shoots are produced to shock it will subtract from the deeper meanings and messages that the viewers can explore. If all of my shoots were as graphic as each other the project will loose effect and the powerful messages intertwined within the images. In terms of makeup,hair and styling it does not look challenging however making my makeup look as though it had been worn all day was harder than it looks, it required melting the makeup slightly, rubbing the eyes, drying out the lips with spirit gum, the lighting was also extremely dark so it also had to be applied rather heavy but also look natural so getting the balance of product right was key.
