As my research proposal I am going to explore the visual representation of mental health. The reason for this is that I have documented my own visual experiences using my camera after being diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses. As early as 1855 photography had been used to catalogue mentally ill patients. Photography helped to capture the subjects in a detail and reality that had never been seen before and that couldn’t be see in drawings, paintings or words. The Victoria and Albert Museum houses a collection of formal portraits by the photographer Hugh Welch Diamond, who worked at an asylum in Surrey.
“Dr.Hugh Welch Diamond is now best known for his pioneering use of photography as a medical tool, and for his haunting portraits of the mentally ill. Diamond made his first photographs in April 1839, just three months after the announcement of photography’s invention”. (Harding, 2013)
While these images by Welch are striking, they depict mental health in a reportage style, viewed by an outsider. However, the images are a window into peoples lives and one can’t help but wonder where these individuals are from, how they ended up in an asylum and where their lives are heading.
Later, American photographer Francesca Woodman (1958-1981), who suffered from depression, began studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and began showing an interest in the surreal. Woodman created a large body of work, mostly self portraits of her in claustrophobic, surreal and conceptual themes. (Nationalgalleries.org, 2018)
The Edith Schloss Burckhardt collection, within the Columbia University Library Archives has an interesting collection of postcards, letters and other items, that Woodman sent to the art critic and associate editor of Art News, Edith Schloss Burckhardt. These valuable documents offer an interesting insight into her life. (Findingaids.library.columbia.edu, 2018)
Woodman would take her life in 1981, aged just 22. (Granarybooks.com, 2018)
Bibliography.
Harding, C. (2013). D is for… Dr.Hugh Welch Diamond: Photography and the pseudoscience of physiognomy – National Science and Media Museum blog. [online] National Science and Media Museum blog. Available at: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/a-z-photography-collection-hugh-welch-diamond/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2019].
(Collections.vam.ac.uk, 2018) Collections.vam.ac.uk. (2018). Your Search Results | Search the Collections | Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=hugh%20welch [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].
Diamond, H. (1855). Portrait of a patient. [Photography] Surrey: The V&A Collection.
Diamond, H. (1855). Portrait of a patient. [Photography] Surrey: The V&A Collection.
Diamond, H. (1855). Portrait of a patient. [Photography] Surrey: The V&A Collection.
Diamond, H. (1855). Portrait of a patient. [Photography] Surrey: The V&A Collection.
Woodman, F. (1980). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1980). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1980). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1980). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1980). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1975). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1975). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Woodman, F. (1975). Untitled. [Photography] London: TATE.
Nationalgalleries.org. (2018). Francesca Woodman | National Galleries of Scotland. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/francesca-woodman [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].
Findingaids.library.columbia.edu. (2018). Columbia University Libraries Finding Aids: Rare Book & Manuscript Library. [online] Available at: https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_11502615/summary [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].
Granarybooks.com. (2018). Edith Schloss Burckhardt Archive | Granary Books. [online] Available at: http://granarybooks.com/collections/schloss/index.html [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].
Jon Kidd 