🔹𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀: 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍🔹

🔸𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠,
𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛'𝑠 "𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔" 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑐𝑒.🔸

Photo credit: Helena Berg, edit by Marti

'𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤': 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧.


“Suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 and 45,” says (rapper) Professor Green with a tremble in his voice. “Someone could be hurting inside, but if they don’t tell you about it you might never know. We must get men to talk.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)


In November 2015, an exhibition of five famous London photographers was held in London on the occasion of International Men's Day.
⭐𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆 and ⭐𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 are the names that are best known to us.
And what is it all about?
It's a long story.


If we remember correctly, two charity Placebo concerts took place in the English university town of Leeds. The first was in 2013 and all proceeds went to the Mercy Center in Bangkok and also in support of the Samye Ling Buddhist Temple in Scotland. In March 2015, the band donated all proceeds from the concert to ⭐𝐂.𝐀.𝐋.𝐌. - "𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲".

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

🔹💬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌:
“CALM is a charity that’s close to my heart because depression is a condition which I suffer from myself,” Molko told NME.
“There are various forms of help out there.
It’s a disease like any other. Depression and addiction are both recognised by the World Health Organisation as diseases. If someone had MS or cancer, you would listen to them. There’s still a stigma attached to depression, and a lot of men in particular feel that it’s a sign of weakness to talk about it. What we’re trying to do with CALM is remove that stigma in society.”
(𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝑁𝑀𝐸 𝑂𝑐𝑡. 2017)

Exhibition poster

🔹💬 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌:
He highlights the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which ‘is leading a movement against male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK’.
“I’ve been to very, very dark places,” he states, “and I know people who have committed suicide. It’s horrible, and I just want people to know there are other options.” .../***/
“So as a first step, if there’s no one else you can turn to, these charities are there. It’s incredible just to talk to someone who will listen and can empathise. It can do you the world of good if you’re in a dark place.” .../***/
Loneliness, he says, like addiction, does not discriminate.
“It happens to the whole spectrum of people.”
(𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑂𝑙𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑙, 𝐹𝑦𝑛𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠, 2018)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

However, this second concert was even more special thanks to the after-party DJ show, which Brian and Stefan attended to the delight of their fans.
Read an excerpt from an article in which the ambassador of the charity C.A.L.M. the English actor 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 explains the whole situation:


🔹💬 „It came about after a CALM event I’d organised in Leeds in March. Placebo kindly agreed to dedicate the Leeds show of their tour to help raise awareness of CALM, and I put together a secret after-show party in collaboration with the uni.
Both Brian and Stef from the band DJ’d, and have been amazingly supportive. I was so grateful for them getting behind the charity and their continued efforts.
Helena [Berg, acclaimed photographer responsible for much of rock band Placebo’s artwork during their 20 year career] had heard all about the event and CALM via Brian, and asked to be put in touch with me to discuss her ideas; she talked about getting a load of photographers together to do something for the charity, as the cause really resonated with her."


◾ 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐴𝐿𝑃𝐻𝐴?
...A culture where the expectation of the stereotypical ALPHA male is relentlessly reinforced...
„The predominant model of the alpha male; strong, stoic and unfeeling, still persists in popular culture and reinforces a concept of masculinity that is pervasive and insidious – one that doesn’t allow for anxiety, vulnerability or dialogue.“
„In 2014, 4,623 men took their own lives in Britain. That works out to more than 12 deaths a day, and accounts for 76% of the total suicides in the UK in 2014. In fact, suicide is the biggest killer for men under 45 in the UK.“◾
(𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑀𝑍𝑂𝑁𝐸 2015)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑎 𝐵𝑒𝑟𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚.. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑀 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.


🔹💬 To photographer and Alpha curator Helena Berg, finding out the disturbingly high rate of male suicides was a call to action.
“I was so shocked and wanted to help,” she says. “I contacted four fellow photographers and we set out to interpret different parts of the male emotional experience. We called the project Alpha to reflect the cultural pressures put upon men to live up to the stereotypical “alpha male” model ... and we concentrated on emotions that would lead a person not to speak, like anxiety, depression and loneliness."
Berg herself concentrated on feelings of isolation, by photographing men under ice and water.
“Not as a reference to drowning,” she swiftly clarifies, “but to illustrate immobilisation and the feeling of ‘being frozen’, which many depressed people experience. I used Perspex on top of the subject [Placebo’s Brian Molko] for the illusion of ice and to create photos that are haunting and tranquil at the same time.
Alpha was timed to open on International Men’s Day, says Berg, “to highlight this gender disparity issue, where three times as many men are taking their lives as women."
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

𝐴𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑠: 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛:
🔹💬 Music photographer Scarlet Page, daughter of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, has taken arresting portraits of Gary Numan, Frank Turner and Professor Green which have a strikingly blurry effect.
“No image manipulation has gone into any of the photos,” Page explains. “I used a special lens which gives a very shallow depth of field and keeps the eyes sharp,” she says.
“I went to Gary Numan’s soundcheck at the Forum and we took some shots outside in-between chatting. All three men have been touched by depression in some way ... I wanted them to be quite expressionless, so no conclusions were made when looking at them. I think there is a softness and vulnerability to them.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)

🔹📸 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
https://bit.ly/3FVLyCY
🔹🔹🔹

𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆:
𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆: 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.

Post by Marti