"You Never Know What Goes on Behind Closed Doors"

How we portray and conduct ourselves in society, in the majority of cases, is not necessarily representative of our true selves...or even what is occurring when nobody is watching. As we discussed in class, I have found myself to be particularly drawn to more darker, gloomier and even twisted photographs. I believe that the camera has an uncanny ability to capture emotional undertones and hidden thoughts that the subject or situation isn't necessarily trying to show. In other words, the camera captures what is really going on. We always hear examples of how a person expresses what they are feeling through their eyes - the "windows of the soul." Even though a person may be smiling in a picture and supposedly happy, their eyes can juxtapose the perceived happiness with sadness or signs of suffering.
I believe that everybody has an untold story and that everybody has secrets. Sometimes, the only way to remotely convey that person's real self is through a photograph. All too often, I feel that darker photographs have a deeper meaning and strike somebody on a more personal and deeper level. Last year, I underwent painful back surgery after two years of intermittent feeling in my legs. Looking at my face, my body or the way I act, one would never know the suffering and the depression that had occurred just months before. For that reason, one of my self - portraits is the scar on my back. It will forever be a piece of me - forever a reminder of what I have been through and my darkest days.
The next time you look at someone, I hope you wonder how well you really know them...or how well they really know you.