' Melancholia - Heartbroken ' , 2019 , Photography , 80 x 120 cm

​

 Renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud ’s theory on Mourning and Melancholia expounds on the Humans state of mind. Freud suggests that our state of mind recognizes distress during the loss of objects of our love and desire; therefore we mourn to help us overcome this loss. If we take a very long time to overcome our loss, we often slip into the state of Melancholy which we can express in visual language as depicted in the series of work ‘Melancholia' through the lens of a young man showing sorrow.

 

By examining the traditionally male roles of being hunters, gathers, protectors extend to being a soldier, an engineer, and a doctor, the male experience, expression, and respond to depression differs from that of females based on the traditionally masculine norms and ideologies, men should not cry because it is a sign of weakness. However, it depicts a young male crying and showing his sorrow and deep mood after losing his lover- he is heartbroken. By choosing the poses for this series of photographs clues observers to this young man's non-verbal gestures with his body/hands and facial expressions. Utilizing this model is a way to help develop and incorporate both outer and inner sources of inspiration to enhance one's ability to relate to the theme of melancholy. The series reflects on how men generally mask depression when they are experiencing an underlying sadness that transforms into other more externalizing symptoms due to prescriptive gender norms. He covered his mouth and parts of his face to hide he was crying; however, his hands were very tense.