Meth Doesn't Make Sense

In my graphic design class, we were required to do a PSA (public service announcement) poster about a serious issue. I tangoed with two different topics: HIV/AIDS or methamphetamine addiction. Considering I knew I was going to useDave as my model, I let him pick. ;) I guess being portrayed as a severe meth addict is less embarrassing than being the poster child of a deadly STD. (Reminds me of the episode of Friends where Joey does a commercial for herpes and girls are grossed out by him).

I shot the photos last Sunday with Dave and Jena. I made them up with dark eyeshadows and auburn lip liner. I was extremely proud of my realistic sores and bug-picked flesh wounds (a little bummed you can't see the ones on his arms in my final product). Dave bought a pack of dirty Marlboro cigarettes and smoked through about five of them by the time we were finished shooting. My mom let me use the horses' west nile vaccine syringes -- which is probably not a very intelligent idea considering Jena accidentally stuck herself with them a couple times. :s And we used crushed ice to appear like crystal meth in the tarnished spoon.

I was really inspired by the gruesome print ads at NotEvenOnce.com for The Meth Project Foundation. I wanted to shoot something that would grab people's attention and make them feel a little sick if they looked at it for too long. I read some of the real stories posted on the website and the caption: "He knows he's dying, but still wants to continue using Meth..." immediately grabbed my attention. The story goes:

"Well, let's see it started about five years ago when my friend first told me about Meth. He asked me if I wanted to try it and I told him no, but he insisted in me trying it, so I finally said yes. I just remember not being able to sleep for days and it was the worst days of my life. I still get the craving once in a while, it's the hardest drug to quit cause it's always on your mind. My good friend has been in and out of Rehab about 10 times already and cannot find the strength to quit. He has called me all desperate looking for the drug and even stealing from his parents just for another high. He has even tried to commit suicide because he can't stand it anymore. I know this drug will kill my best friend, but the sad part is that he knows he's dying, but still wants to continue using Meth. He has all kinds of bumps in his skin and weighs about 90lbs. The best advice I can give our youth is don't even try it, not even once and to educate kids of the dangers of using this devil drug."

Unfortunately, because this was a school project, the blatant images of drugs had to be censored in some manner. So I covered the "meth" with the typography, but thankfully it didn't take away any of the raw and shocking qualities of the photo. I most definitely scored myself an A. ;)

Here are some a few other photos from the shoot (just rough previews; not finished pieces).


xoxo,
Corinne