‘RED + BLUE = PURPLE’ is a series based on Fibromyalgia a chronic pain disorder that effects the muscle in all parts of the body creating varying amounts of pain every day on top of other symptoms like fatigue, brain fog and generally worsening the mental heath of the person suffering from FM. The hardest part of this project was finding an effective and creative way to convey my messages to my audience in a way that is easy to understand but also allows the viewer to think on the images themselves. Throughout my process I had the opinions of other people I know that also deal with fibromyalgia, those being my family members. This helped me greatly in finding ways of conveying messages so that they could be understood in context, especially representing symptoms. The title is a play on the colours I used in the photographs and a nudge to the purple ribbon used to signify FM.
This project is one of advocacy and awareness but also hope. I was diagnosed with FM in my first year of university, at first it was devastating even if I knew there was a high chance I would develop FM, living to learn with this and having to change your lifestyle is extremely hard; one day I was up and about living normally and the next I couldn't get out of bed. This condition is mentally and physically draining some days more, some days less. You are never alone no matter how alone you feel, I'm right here enduring it with you.
