Main description:

This book explores the potential of specific photographic images for reflecting on experiences of mental disorders. Instead of looking at photographs of (people suffering from) mental disorders, this volume aspires to comprehend the complexities of such conditions through photographic lexicons, metaphors, and practices. For this book, a mental disorder is not to be seen as a dysfunction or impairment, but a state in which the sustaining balance of stable and unstable mind is unsettled, which may induce mental/bodily disturbances. The term "psychosomatic" refers to the interaction of the mind (psyche) with the body (soma); it refers to their co-dependence. By the term "Psychosomatic Imagery" this volume refers to a distinctive trope of photographic images that deal with the body-mind interaction during the states of mental disorders. This novel theoretical framework in photography theory instigates critical discussions about the experiences of mental disorders visualized as disturbed corporeal and mental perceptions of the world. While the introduction of the volume unpacks and assesses the applications of photography in mental disorder studies from theoretical and historical perspectives, the chapters focus on specific cases of Psychosomatic Imagery in contemporary photography. Those cases include, but are not limited to: PTSD, hysteria, paranoia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and Hikikomori.

Contents:

Part 1: Secluded Subjects and Sociable Objects.- Ali Shobeiri, 'The Room is the World: Reflecting on the Lived Experience of "Hikikomori" through Photography'.- Stefaan Vervoort, 'Objects as Friends: Societal Dysfunction and Photography in the Work of Harald Thys and Jos de Gruyter'.- Part 2. Psychosomatic Disruptions and Distortions Laura Bertens, 'Traces of Absence: the (Im)possibility of Representing the Phantom Limb'.- Karen van Minnen, 'Ghost Feelings and Distortion: Redefining Dis-ease'.- Part 3. Traversing Hysteria and Bipolar Disorder.- Paul Grace, 'Reconfiguring the Photography of Hysteria'.- Eric Patel, 'Buried Images: Indian Photography and Mental Health'.- Part 4: Images Mediating between Two Worlds.- Helen Westgeest, 'Photographic Visions on Mentally Disordered Experiences of the World Outside: Meaningful Disruption in Psychosomatic Imagery'.- Ana Peraica, 'Selfies and the Fear of Facing the World Unmediated'.