Photo taken by contributor Elijah Weerts, a 20-year-old photography student. People have always seen him as the outgoing, fun to be around, positive kid all through his life. He wasn’t ever “allowed” to be sad or at least he felt that he had to be the person who made everyone feel better. He thought that if he showed that he was sad that he was letting people down. Elijah has been a photography major for the past four semesters of college, and every time he does self-portraits people seem to respond to them very emotionally. Whether it be happy, uncomfortable, or sad, people are drawn to them. Photography allows him to show how he is feeling without having to say anything. It lets all of him be shown in a way people can somehow relate to and that’s what he gets passionate about. He wants people to feel something when they see his images. He wants people to actually stop and think about who they are.
About this photo: “One night I was feeling overwhelmed by all the circumstances that were going on around me. I could not fall asleep at all and it was nearly 3am. I was exhausted when I looked up to see these wonderful shadows being cast on my wall from the moons glow through my blinds. All the leading lines towards the middle seemed perfect for how I was feeling. I placed myself in the corner and used a long exposure where I stood for about 10 seconds in the corner then left the other 20 to the blank wall. It gave me that ghost effect and made me look like I’m being overtaken which is exactly how I felt.“
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