Photography essay

1. Jennifer Cairns
An Investigation into the documentation of the mental illness
anxiety and recovery.
Introduction
This personal investigation is: to create a documentary style photographic
record covering the challenges and experiences a person suffering with a mental
health illness has to endure. It will focus on the mental disorder Anxiety.
It’s important to study this topic, as knowledge will decrease the stigma
around mental illness. This stigma is detrimental to those with a mental
illness, and even stops others from getting diagnosed, or being accepted by
their peers. The timing of when the conversation is started increases this
stigma. In America, this topic is brought up at times like the aftermath of a
mass shooting, so that a conversation about the actual problem is avoided.
So, it’s important for mental illness and also recovery to be a topic that can
be expressed in a less negative context.
Mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent, due to an increase in sufferers
being diagnosed and increased stresses of daily life. This topic can’t be
ignored nor dismissed any longer.
Brief History
Mental health has only become an important topic recently, so it’s history in
photography isn’t very extensive.
Historically, photographers portrayed mental illness in a negative way. The
mentally ill were seen as animals that needed to be separated from the rest
of society. Thankfully, in the 1950s, patients were being removed from the
institutions and being placed back in society.

2. By Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1939, Pilgrim State Hospital
This photograph was taken by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. During
this time period, colour photography wasn’t used very often and so this
photograph was taken in sepia.
By Christopher Payne, 2009
This is a modern photograph taken of an abandoned asylum by Christopher
Payne showing hundreds of Urns, containing ashes of patients that have
never been collected by their families, most likely due to the patient being
disowned and ignored.
Mental health is also photographed in documentary style.
Although colour photography is now widely used, in mental health
photography specifically, photographers often take black and white
photographs, to represent the sombreness and seriousness of mental
illnesses.

3. Photographers Research
Racquel Fortuna
Racquel Fortuna has battled with mental illness, as she suffered from severe
anxiety that would leave her feeling isolated and fearful. She reached a point
where she was tired of living with her condition so she was determined to break
free of its constraints. This she did by challenging the issues that constrained
her. An important part of her healing process was opening up to friends and
family about her struggle. After her success combating anxiety she used her
photography to share her experience with a wider audience. She created a series
of black and white self-portraits titled ‘Overcoming Anxiety’ where she
portrayed her emotional journey in overcoming her problems. As Fortuna said "I
reflected back to my writing days and remembered one of the most important
elements to an effective story: write about what you know. " In being so open
and exposing her vulnerability to the world she hoped to emotionally connect
with her audience and inspire others who are struggling with their own
problems.
The use of self-portraits connects with her audience, as they know that they are
seeing genuine representations of her experiences. The subject knows in
excruciating detail how it feels. The genuine true to life nature of the images
allows the viewer to connect and form a bond with the subject, as they are
exposing their inner most feelings to the world and so making themselves very
vulnerable. This is a brave and admirable thing to do. Fortuna’s series of images
are inspirational in that they convey her struggle in a positive way.
Below are some of the images from her series ‘Overcoming Anxiety, where she
visually expresses her 'emotional journey'. In this series Fortuna has taken a
series of self-portrait images, She’s arranged the composition of the image within
the frame using herself as subject, and having a camera set up on a tripod,
which was controlled using the camera's self -timer or a shutter release
cable. The images were mostly taken during daylight so natural light and
reflectors was made use of. For the indoor shots she used fill light and diffusers
to soften the light. The entire project was shot in black and white.

4. Hidden, Racquel Fortuna, 2015
This image shows Fortuna slightly curled up in her bed, underneath her duvet
cover, with her back to the window. Her curtains are closed even though it’s day,
which is apparent from the bright light coming through the gap in the curtains. In
such a position you would expect to find her sleeping but instead she is wide-
awake and looking directly at the camera. This eye contact directs the viewer’s
attention to the emotions the subject is feeling, she is not just having a sleepy lay
in bed. This image captures the way the subject is hiding herself away from the
outside world, trying to find comfort in the safety of her bed. She is lying in bed
hiding underneath her bed covers, as if this will protect her. She also has her
back turned to the window to emphasise that she is trying to ignore the world
and pretend it’s not there, as she cannot face it. The fact that she is staring
straight at the viewer and making eye contact makes the image more personal
and so connects more with the viewer. It’s as though they’re being asked for help
or understanding and this makes them more involved. The duvet has been
arranged to hide one of her eyes, leaving only one visible, directing the viewer’s
attention to it. The image highlights the isolation she’s experiencing and the fact
that the series has been shot in black and white helps to convey the feeling of
loneliness and anguish she is experiencing, as though all colour and joy has been
taken out of her life.

5. Anxious, 2015
This image shows Fortuna sitting at a small table and her duvet, which she is
clinging onto as it encloses her, cocoons her. She is positioned according to the
rule of thirds on the line along the right of the frame, so drawing the viewer’s eye
to her and her importance. In front of her on the table there is a mug and several
bottles of pills. She is staring into space, or possibly at her window as now, her
curtains are open, both of these actions could represent anxious feelings. The
subject is shown looking into the distance and gives the impression of being
paralysed and anxious, unable to move forward in life. She may be struggling to
get up in the morning, so is having a mug of tea to help calm her. The image also
conveys that she is relying heavily on her medication to help relieve the anxiety
she is feeling and to help her cope with everyday life. This image conveys that the
subject is struggling to function; she just wants to sit and feel protected covered
by her duvet as she is unable to do much due to her feelings of fear and doubt.
The medication and warm drink highlight the support that she depends upon to
even get out of bed. In the image there is very little other furniture visible as if
she wanted to highlight the stark empty existence she is living in with anxiety,
and this is further emphasised by the image being black and white, to somehow
parallel the bleakness and sadness of her existence.

6. Continue, 2015
This is the last image in her series and shows Fortuna symbolically walking
toward light at the end of a tunnel. She’s shown from behind in silhouette, lit up
by the light coming from the arch way shaped exit in front of her. The contrast
between highlights and shadows emphasises the drama in the moment making it
more vivid to the viewer and underlining the importance of the moment. The
tunnel is very dark and is mostly in shadow. The stark brickwork of the tunnel
walls and floor can be seen and could symbolise the difficult emotional
experience she’s been through and the hard emotional journey she’s had to
travel to reach this point. The light surrounding the subject symbolizes light
coming from the world that she had previously been fearful of and isolated from,
which she can now re-join and continue on with her life. This image can be
interpreted as uplifting and full of hope, a celebration of success of a long
emotional journey.
Christian Sampson
He created a series of images titled “A Visual Depiction of Mental Disorders”. In
this he created representations of what it felt like to live with certain mental
illnesses. He chose twelve mental disorders/abnormalities and tried to visually
match their descriptions to his artistic interpretation. He wanted to capture the
actual suffering of the people living with such disorders and so made the tone
and feel of the images dark. He used black and white in his series of images to
help achieve this and tried to generalise the symptoms so they would speak to
people broadly and connect with them. In doing this he hoped to raise awareness
of the struggle people have in coping with such disorders and provide a visual
aid to help others understand what they are coping with on a daily basis. His
images are emotive and powerful and many people suffering with a mental
illness have been able to identify and connect with them.

7. Anxiety, 2014
In this image Sampson is representing the mental disorder anxiety. The image is
taken from a position behind the woman who is standing with her arms raised
out to the side and her fingers touching the wall in front of her. Her head is
bowed and from the location where her hands touch the walls many twisted
lines have grown. These lines travel up the wall and disappear out of view at the
top of the frame.
In the image from her pose the woman looks as though she is not controlling the
energy that is bursting from her fingertips. She looks as though she is tired and
leaning against the wall for support. This could be visually representing the
exhaustion and lack of control that anxiety brings with it. The blood vessel like
appearance of the pattern on the wall personifies it; makes it appear to be alive
and powerful with a will of its own. It’s like energy is exploding from the
woman’s fingertips, as it’s too powerful to be contained within her body. The
image is surreal but conveys a sense of what anxiety would look like were it
visible. In this way it will hopefully allow others to better empathize with people
who suffer from anxiety. The use of black and white photography helps to depict
somber emotions. The absence of any colour could be seen as the absence of
happiness, positivity and hope. The shoulder blades of the woman make it seem
as though she is struggling to contain her anxiety, and the prominence of them
makes her seem small and fragile.

8. Panic Disorder, 2014
This photograph shows a woman, who has cracks over her body. She is grasping
her head and face; there is a knife being held on a string hovering over the
woman's neck, and a hand, which is in the process of cutting the string.
Panic disorder is illustrated as the hand holding the scissors, which are about to
cut the string, which would then send the knife into the woman's neck. It conveys
how extremely physical the attacks can be, as its being compared to a stab
wound. Panic attacks wreak havoc on the body, with heart rates racing and
hyperventilation. Some panic attacks can build in the minutes or seconds before
they happen, and others have no warning at all. As the woman is grasping at her
head in frustration, and is leaning over as if expecting the knife to fall into her
back, so she is aware that she's having a panic attack, and the knife in the back is
the precipice of the attack. With severe panic disorder, it could be said that the
knife is always at your back, so the threat and anxiety of having an attack doesn't
go away. The black and white of the photograph emphasises the contrast of the
shadows and highlights. This makes the image seem harsher, and can provoke
more negative emotions and reactions in the viewer, to make them relate and
empathise with the woman.
Relevance of the Photographer’s Research to my Personal Project
My research into how photographers have presented images of mental illness
has provided me with considerable insight into how to present my personal
project in a way that will be captivating to audiences but also maintain a genuine

9. true to life feel.
My research into Racquel Fortuna’s series of images on her journey with anxiety
has been particularly insightful to me in several ways. Firstly, it influenced the
planning of my project, as it inspired me to use self-portrait images, just as she
did. When studying her images I felt that by making herself the subject in her
images she was exposing her inner most feelings to her audience and making
herself very vulnerable by doing this.
The second way my research on Fortuna work has been significant is in the
serious documentary way she has set up her images. She has achieved this by
photographing herself in locations that are genuinely part of her journey. This
has encouraged me to include images of particular locations that are relevant to
my own journey with mental health in my project. One such location that is
particularly significant to me is looking through a gap in the curtains in my home,
which is shown below. The consequence of using locations that were significant
to me impacts my ability to recall and better portray the emotions I was feeling
at the time; this gives my images a more true to life feel. Another way my
research has impacted my project is that I too have chosen to change some of my
images into black and white.
I have also applied the knowledge from my research in using and settings up
compositions and locations to better connect and engage with audiences as the
journey progresses. Just having images about mental illness can make the images
very negative and depressing and audiences would soon lose interest. Therefore
I have been influenced by my research to make my journey start off positively, to
engage the audience, and then go on to illustrate the effect of anxiety, which is
rather negative, and then to slowly become more optimistic as my struggle
against it progresses.
I was influenced by my research into the work of Christian Sampson where he
created a series of surreal images representing what he felt it was like to live
with certain mental illnesses or disorders. His images are rather dark as he was
trying to capture the suffering involved in the illnesses, which is why he chose to
use black and white to help achieve this. I was inspired by his work to create my
own surreal version of what anxiety feels like, and have created a number of

10. surreal images, and dedicated the an entire shoot to this. By including this in my
journey I hope to provide a dramatic visual aid to illustrate to people in a
powerful way how difficult it is to live on a day-to-day basis with anxiety. My
research had convinced me that by including such emotive images in my project I
would reach out to a wider range of people, and encourage them to empathize
with those struggling with anxiety. I felt that by connecting with those struggling
with their own mental health that I could give them hope that they can overcome
their problems.
In this surreal image I show how I feel when I am having a panic attack. It’s as if I
am waiting for something really bad to happen, and am almost paralyzed by fear
and unable to move away from the danger or protect myself. I will most probably
edit this photograph in Photoshop to make changes, like converting it to black
and white, and using ideas from the original photograph taken by Sampson.
The future
Photography, due to the rise in smartphones and social media, has become a lot
more popular within the current generation. This along with the fact that many
of this generation are mentally ill; I can only see this aspect of photography
expanding.
Technological advancements are making it easier to edit photographs, and the
quality of the photographs is increasing as better quality cameras are being
made.

11. The stigma is generally being reduced and I believe that as it reduces, more
people will find the courage to share their views and journeys concerning their
own mental health.
Conclusion
I intend to continue using Raquel Fortuna as inspiration throughout the rest of
my project. My inspiration from Christian Sampson will only be limited to shoot
4, as I want this project to be documentary style, rather than surreal, but it was
something I wanted to try.
For the rest of my project, I will be focusing on my recovery, which will include
volunteering at an animal shelter, medication, therapy, and then returning to
school up to where I am currently.
I will be taking influence from Fortuna’s style, by converting some of my own
work into black and white, and trying to make my photographs speak for
themselves in the way that Fortuna does. She also ends her project with an
image called ‘Continue’, where she is standing looking at the light coming from
the end of the tunnel, and I would very much like to replicate this idea.
Shoot 4, I will be continuing, as it’s not yet complete. I have many of my own
ideas, which I will attempt.
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hospital-1938/] (accessed: 20 November 2017)
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(accessed: 22 November 2017)