CHEMICAL BURN
ps7-brushes - Pretty Brush [link]
mask, model & photographer – me
photo-stock - various autopsy pictures

THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE : When I did this manipulation I was working for a sign manufacturing/screen printing shop where I dealt with some pretty caustic stuff on a daily basis. For my own safety I was required to wear this mask at all times not only because of the fumes from the 3M inks I was using, but also from the dust that was in the air that would set my allergies off at the drop of a dime. Dust, of course, is a no-no in screen-printing, but tell that to the cheap-ass owner of the place.

Well, I took the mask home with me one weekend and just took a few quick shots of me with it on to use for a manipulation later on. I knew it would involve some of the more grotesque autopsy and accident photos I have in my collection, and given that it is a breathing mask I just knew the piece would have this toxic look about it.

What I didn’t know, however, was a few days later I would almost become the victim of a very real chemical burn using the same inks I had become a pro at using. Because of the substandard equipment that I was forced to use, on of the things I had to use to distribute the ink onto the screens were cheap, from-the-grocery store plastic cups. I was in the middle of a big black-ink job, most likely some one-way signs or some speed limits. After I had poured the ink onto the screen I was turning around to put the cup back onto the shelf where I kept some things. And that’s when it happened.

The cup slid out of my hand as though it were covered in butter and the cup hit the floor. This wave of black ink splashed up and landed all over the right side of my face, my arm and neck. Luckily my eyes shut when it happened or else I would have been in even more trouble than I had found myself in. I started to the restroom (yes, no chemical cleaning facilities anywhere) and with each step I could feel my skin starting to tingle and burn more and more.

I had seen this stuff eat through a picnic cup in less than a second, so I knew what was going to happen if I didn’t do something fast. I washed it off and scrubbed my skin as best I could with soap and water, trying to thwart the ill effects of the ink. Had I not acted fast enough I could have been seriously disfigured, and in a job with absolutely no insurance because the owner is, once again, cheap, that wasn’t a good thing.

- please be aware that this is a reposted image and not a brand new deviation