Psychosomatic Imagery: Photographic Reflections on Mental Disorders

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.

Ali Shobeiri is Assistant Professor of Photography and Visual Culture at Leiden University, The Netherlands. He is the author of Place: Towards a Geophilosophy of Photography (2021) and co-editor of Animation and Memory (2020).

Helen Westgeest is Associate Professor of Modern & Contemporary Art History and Theory of Photography at Leiden University, The Netherlands. She is the author of Slow Painting: Contemplation and Critique in the Digital Age (2020) and Video Art Theory (2016).

Contributors:
Ana Peraica, Visiting Professor Affiliation: Danube University Krems Short biography: Ana Peraica is the author of The Age of Total Images (Institute of Advanced Cultures, Amsterdam, 2019), Fotografija kao Dokaz (Multimedijalni institute, Zagreb, 2018), Culture of the Selfie (Institute of Advanced Cultures, Amsterdam, 2017). She holds a position of Visiting Professor at Danube University in Austria and was previously a Visiting Fellow at Central European University in Budapest.
Stefaan Vervoort, Postdoctoral researcher Affiliation: Ghent University Short biography: Stefaan Vervoort is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Art History, Musicology and Theatre Sciences at Ghent University. His research focuses on postwar art and architecture, specifically in Belgium and (West) Germany.
Paul Grace, Lecturer in History and Theory of Modern Art Affiliation: School of Arts and Society, University Centre Blackburn College Short biography: Paul Grace is a UK based academic who teaches art history and theory in the northwest of England. His research concerns the representation of violence, exemplified by The Destroyed Body in the Work of Thomas Hirschhorn published in War and Art (Brill Schöningh, 2020).
Laura Bertens, Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History Affiliation: Leiden University Short biography: Laura Bertens is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Leiden University. Her research interests lie in the fields of memory studies, contemporary art and cultural studies.
Karen D. van Minnen, Cultural Researcher / Lecturer / Graphic Designer Short biography: Karen D. van Minnen is a lecturer (2008-2020) and educational designer at Gerrit Rietveld Academy (fine art/graphic design), RISD (semiotics/narrative space) and UvA (RMA Cultural Analysis). She also acts as the section head of Communication & Multimedia Design at Hanze CMD.
Eric Patel, Artist and visual culture researcher Short biography: Eric Patel is a non-binary artist and visual culture researcher living in occupied New York or Lenapehoking. He uses sculpture and photography to explore questions on knowledge systems, violence, and healing through anti-colonial, caste abolition, and womanist perspectives. He received a BS from the University of California (US) and a MA from AKV St. Joost in Den Bosch (NL).