exhaustion triptych:
I don’t know if this blanket is yellow or red / Portrait of the photographer as an exhausted young man wanting to become a still life

I don’t know if this blanket is yellow or red and portrait of the photographer as an exhausted young man wanting to become a still life are a diptych and single photograph that can be arranged to an exhaustion triptych. all images were taken in response to a period of extreme mental exhaustion caused by my studies and work life. in the context of a not long discovered neurodivergence, said exhaustion was confusing. the latter image concerns itself with its result, no matter the cause – regression of functional skills and a wish to remain immobile. an old metaphor for depression came into mind: that of wrapping oneself in a yellow blanket. cocooning is a common stress response in autistic people, yet the cause of stress - whether the yellow of depression or the comparative red of burnout - is unknown (see diptych).