Moral fatigue derives from my own life experience, and how we, as youth, navigate through challenges that are facing the world; such as COVID or climate change. For myself, I have found that it becomes very overwhelming very quickly, and can cause a lot of exhaustion and mental fatigue. There is also the relentless worrying about the future and things beyond yourself, which can cause you to wonder, “Am I good enough?” “Am I doing enough?” The aim of this project was to encapsulate this emotion.
The photographs are classified as portraits, and I wanted my subjects closer to the camera to create vulnerability. I also thought that it was important to create an “inward” and “outward” representation of moral fatigue. This is achieved in two ways. The photographs of my subjects in different positions portray their outward representation; how you look when you are anxious. The dragging effect on the photo is achieved by a slow shutter speed, and this portrays one’s inwards emotions. The slightly out-of-focus portrait linked with the dragging blur, creates a sense of overstimulation and how moral fatigue occurs when too much is going on in one’s head.
Lastly, the colouring and lighting is very important. The contrast of light in my photographs is not only important to create the dragging effect, but also to add to the atmosphere, to make my images feel sombre and dramatic. The green, purple, and orange hues, take my subject out of reality and into an alternate situation, almost as if they are inside their own mind.
Massive thanks to Vishek Kumar, Nina Dickie, Molly Gifford, Francesca Gould, and Chelsea Sullivan for participating in this project.
See the full series:
