Pictures taken 'to overcome drug addiction stereotypes'

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Page last updated at 12:31 GMT, Tuesday, 20 November 2012

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Former photography student Roman Sakovich has released a set of before-and-after pictures showing how people might look after becoming addicted to crystal meth. The photos were shot in a studio with the subjects' faces split in half using make-up.
Roman Sakovich started the project while studying at the Arts University College, Bournemouth, where he graduated last year but has only just released them publicly. Make-up was used on one half of the models' faces instead of merging them digitally from two separate pictures.
Roman Sakovich says his Half project was created "to explore the outsiders' superficial judgement of the same person before and after drug abuse". The photos include a range of people whose hair and features change radically after the supposed use of the Class A drug.
Last week the National Treatment Agency revealed figures showing the number of people seeking treatment for so-called "club drugs" had risen in the past six years. Last year, 6,486 people were treated for substances such as ecstasy and ketamine - up from 4,656 in 2005-06.
On his website Roman Sakovich, 26, says the majority of his work "investigates the development of an evolving post-Soviet society and the attendant cultural changes in a progressive world. Capturing it in the way he sees it".
Roman Sakovich has had several photography exhibitions in New York and London. Some of his other projects include Faces, Eastern Europeans and Transformation.
Roman Sakovich says his project mainly refers to crystal meth which he says has a big impact on a body and which he is trying to show in this series of shots.
The final before-and-after shot shows a businesswoman who becomes addicted to drugs.