Proposal #1

This project would be an autobiographical one. I want to try to explore a health condition that I have had since birth. Previous to this I have written a short story in which I have tried to explore my history involving this disease. I mapped out my relationship to my father (the person who I received the gene from), when I first discovered that he was sick, when I first discovered that I had the same disease, and how I now feel as the disease progresses.

My plan to document this project through photography would be to photograph my doctor visits, blood work, and possibly the future that awaits me when the disease progresses e.g. dialysis, transplant, etc. I do foresee HIPPA getting in the way. I understand that In a lot of cases I might not be allowed to photograph in dialysis centers or areas where there may be kidney patients. I think that I could work around this problem by showing my future through different avenues. One Idea that I have had for this is to photograph the medications that I am taking now as my present and the medications my father is taking as my future.

I also wonder if the timetable will be a problem. Although this is a condition that impacts my everyday life, it is not something that I can show in an everyday way. I do have blood tests and doctor appointments in the next month, but I wonder if I can show these things in a way that would be interesting to anyone else, In addition, when I write about these things, I find that I still write with a little bit of discomfort or distance from the subject. I wonder if I would shoot in the same manner.

In class we had a lecture in which we talked about capturing an image of a person or a self portrait without including images of the actual person. I think that this is the method that I would want to use to capture this project. I would like to show the perspective of having this disease through each stage of my own personal discovery through my own eyes without including images of myself.