DURESS - A visual representation of

As I've hobbled back online, I've found my way to some fibro-specific websites and discussion groups. In one the discussion was about seizure like episodes fibro patients have. I created the image below initially as a representation of this event, how it warps perception, but I decided to change the name to the broader "duress" because really the image portrays what happens to the ability to think and perceive and interact when any major event bombs us.

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About the creation of the art

This was one of the easiest to do of any.The source picture was one LIKE this. I don't remember the exact image I used, but it would have been one similar to this.

These photos are from a series I've been shooting for over a year now which I call "beautiful destruction." They are of the leaves of a hollyhock flower as they are eaten by insects. While destructive, this leaves behind a beautiful lacy pattern.

When there is still a lot of the leaf left (which by now there is not) I like to take the camera and point it upwards from under the leaf as I lean over it. The photo above- while NOT the one used for "duress"- is one of those "once in a lifetime, seminal acheivement" photos. Obviously I wasn't aiming it, couldn't see a thing, but some how my eyes and nose lined up perfectly with the hole in the leaf left by the insects. The photo I used for "duress" was like this except that only my eyes were visible.

To create it, I opened it in my favorite freebie, photofiltre.

I went to the filter (special effects) menu and selected distort.

Distort: Twirl

counterclockwise- value 8

That was it, except that I filled in the white space with the neutral color you see.

Most any worth while program should have the ability to produce this effect, but if yours doesn't, give Photofiltre a try. The free version plus plug in pack has incredibly powerful special effects. All it lacks is true layer support.

DISCUSSION:

So you see how both still photography and a little bit of image editor wizardry can easily be used to create a very evocative image.

With fibro, not only do I find myself so often not able to use words, I find myself encountering experiences for which words are spectacularly inadequate.