๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐คโ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐กโ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐'๐ "๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐" ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐.๐ธ
 |
| Photo credit: Helena Berg, edit by Marti |
'๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค': ๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง.
“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.”
(๐โ๐ ๐บ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ฃ. 2015)
In November 2015, an exhibition of five famous London photographers was held in London on the occasion of International Men's Day.
⭐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ and ⭐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ 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 ⭐๐.๐.๐.๐. - "๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ".
 |
| Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan |
๐น๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐:
“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.”
(๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ธ ๐๐๐ก. 2017)
 |
| Exhibition poster |
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.”
(๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐น๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ , 2018)
 |
| Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan |
Read an excerpt from an article in which the ambassador of the charity C.A.L.M. the English actor ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฝ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง explains the whole situation:
๐น๐ฌ „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."
◾ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ด?
...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.“◾
(๐ถ๐ด๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ธ 2015)
 |
| Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan |
๐น๐ฌ 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."
(๐โ๐ ๐บ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ฃ. 2015)
 |
| Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan |
๐น๐ฌ 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.”
(๐โ๐ ๐บ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ฃ. 2015)
๐น๐ธ ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐:
https://bit.ly/3FVLyCY
๐น๐น๐น
๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
๐ฐ๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
Post by Marti
