How do we define 'reality'? In order to explore this intriguing question, a set of pictorial conventions have been re-appropriated to represent the experiences of people whose sense of reality does not always coincide with that of others. The ten portrait photographs that make up the photographic exhibition ‘A View From Inside’ draw on the principals of eighteenth century portrait painting to give form to some of the unique realities encountered by different people during psychotic episodes. Whilst the people Alexa Wright has photographed here all appear entirely ‘normal’, their ability to function within society has, to varying degrees, been affected by the experience of a psychotic ‘disorder’ such as Bipolar or Schizophrenia. Visual, auditory and other sensory phenomena that occur during a psychotic episode contradict accepted notions of what constitutes 'reality', and yet for one person they are absolutely real. In each photograph the external appearance and the internal experiences of the subject are depicted within a single, formally structured portrait. The aim is not to exoticise the ‘unreal’ or bizarre perceptual experiences of the people portrayed, but to find a visual language that will provoke discussion and add to our understanding of the experience of mental illness, and of psychosis in particular. This, the accompanying book, includes statements by each participant and essays by the Canadian cultural theorist, Jeanne Randolph and British psychiatrist, Professor Graham Thornicroft. --- from the publisher |
