The Ninth Floor

The story I chose was a piece called “The Ninth Floor,” by Jessica Dimmock. It paired very gripping and (literally) sobering photos with audio commentary from the subjects studied in the story. Like most of the stories on Mediastorm, I found this one to be quite moving, and it captured what Dimmock was trying to convey perfectly

The story followed a group of drug addicts who lived in a rundown apartment in, of all places, Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. With images of needles and tortured souls, I found it tough to swallow at points, but that’s what appealed to me the most (if that makes sense).

The images of these people shooting up were so real in the sense that I could feel the pain being translated through the photos. Scars and swollen vains, somber faces, and darkness surrounding these people really captured what an environment they were living in.

In the opening sequence, Dimmock uses photos of highlighting this destruction of mind, body, and the actual apartment, and transitions into a picture of one man licking the needle of his syringe. Coupled with the music she used, this really grabbed me and I realized although the drugs were tearing these people apart, they were still chasing the temporary satisfaction they were getting like it was all they had to live for.

I like how Dimmock uses pictures of arms and hands, focusing on the veins and needles being used, and then transitions into a face of one of the addicts, with their eyes focused away from the camera, looking scared or confused. The audio testimonies in the background of what they were actually feeling really brought it full circle.

One specific photo that really moved me was at 2:48 where Jessie is sitting in a dimly lit room, gazing up at the ceiling- her eyes wide and almost detached from whatever was going on in her head. The lighting was perfect, illuminating half of her face, the ash tray overflowing, the clutter on the nightstand, and the 40 oz to her left The other half over her face- complete darkness. This really helped me feel how lonely her world was.

Drawing both the darkness of addiction, and the hope from recovery with the couple who went on methadone and started a family.

The sequence of these two getting in a fight, with Dionn bleeding from the mouth, only to me kissing Natasha in the next picture, said more about their destructive, yet perfect relationship- as perfect as either of them could attain in their situation.

Dionn’s testimony of how people are inherently good and only learn bad while pictures of their child were shown brought a real sense of humanity in a terrible situation.

To put it simply, the story felt all too real.

It would be really hard for me to tell all that I felt from this piece in 500 words, but in summation I feel Dimmock’s style was very on point for the topic she was covering. I really noticed the importance of lighting, focus, and selection of photographs, and I hope to apply this type of imagery in future projects.

http://www.mediastorm.org/0021.htm