My concentration focuses on the complex emotions surrounding mental disorders using framing as the dominant design element. Photography has become a form of therapy to me as I use it to explore these “invisible illnesses” and the feelings of loneliness, frustration, and isolation that often accompany them. Through my surreal portraits, I explore the unseen turmoil of mental illness in order to highlight physical manifestations of these disorders and emphasize the struggle they convey. 

Mental disorders can have crippling effects on a person’s life that cannot always be seen, and I wanted to create physical symbols of these struggles. Images 3, 4, and 11 depict subjects who are visibly trapped, which represents the barrier misunderstanding can put between those suffering from mental disorders and their loved ones. Images 3 and 4 use objects like the jar and birdcage to frame the subject, which draws attention to the struggle they are facing. In images 5, 8, and 10 smoke, flowers, and hands disfigure the girls’ faces which symbolize the internal battle they face against their mental demons. Images 1 and 2 illustrate multiple repetitions of the subject framing each other to highlight the sense of isolation and loneliness those affected by disorders feel as they are the only ones who can truly understand their experiences. The surreal multiple exposures in images 6 and 9 and the dispersion effect of the girl falling (image 6) portray the concept of dissociation as people tend to lose themselves in their disorders if they do no seek treatment. The hands in image 12 frame the face in a way that draws attention to the subject’s pinned lips which signifies the silence people are forced into because of the stigma that surrounds mental disorders.