Essay and Photo references for Project 5

I’m going to attempt to depict a day in the life of a substance abuser showing how they are damaging their brains, lack of body control, the constant confusion they face and how pills can shape every thought and idea they have.  Some ideas I have to show how substance abuse damages the brain is by depicting both dead and alive brain cells through out the image.  Like using dead brain cells as the back ground of a woman holding a martini glass, or in the puddle of wine from a broken wine glass, or in the smoke that rises from a joint/cigarette.  This would be done using hand illustrated images depicting microscope images of dying brain cells, most likely done in the color of the substance.  One of my favorite ideas to show the damages substance abuse has on the brain is by showing a small brain splashing into a martini glass (instead of an olive), showing the lack of care abusers have for their brains.  Some ideas I have to depict the lack of body control abusers have is so show a drunken man being pulled up by strings of alcohol bottles, pill bottles and needles.  I would shoot my own images of the pill and alcohol bottles and then cut and collage them into the strings (on Photoshop) holding up an image of a drunken man; the man would also be done with my own image.  I’ve also used limp hands and bodies next to spilt alcohol and pills as examples of the lack of body control abusers have.  I also really like the idea of fused out background behind whatever substance is being abused, like a blurred out image of a bar behind a woman holding a wine glass; this would be a clear way to show the confusions abusers face and the fuzziness of their lifestyle.  To create this image I would take a picture of a bar and then edit it on Photoshop to create a blurry/distorted effect.  Lastly I like the idea of using pill capsules to shape a brain, fill up a wine glass, or spill out “dying slowly”.  This would show that every though is surrounded and shaped by drugs.  I would achieve this by using actually pill capsules to make a shape/form and then photograph that image but I could also achieve the pill forms by hand illustrating them.