Deep conversations about mental health in America are still relatively new. In popular culture, some movies and television shows have helped break down the stigma associated with mental health problems. “We live among you” is a new photography exhibit featuring various Atlantans struggling with mental health issues. Alongside the photos are personal stories in the subject’s own words. The exhibition, supported by Mayor Andre Dickens and his Cultural Affairs Officewill be on view until October 29 at Gallery 72. Two of the five photographers participating in the exhibition, daniel troppy Y Royce Soblejoined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to discuss her contributions to the showcase.
Interview Highlights:
Compassionate representations that do not define a subject by their disorder:
“I shot all of mine from behind. Everything is shot in black and white. Y [one photo] It’s from a woman who had been dealing with OCD for 40 or 50 years, and she told me what it was like: raising a family, having children and having a husband, and having to deal with OCD every day of her life.” said Stunned. He then added, “I put her in front of a beautiful flowering tree, because I wanted quiet. She wanted to give him peace of mind. I wanted to give her something that was so out of her normal life.”
“In fact, I made a call for artists on Facebook. I made a post and said, ‘I’d like to see if anyone would like to be a part of a mental health project,’” Soble said. “For me it was important to photograph people in their homes, because I wanted to give them a safe space to photograph. And we started our conversations when I first sat down and talked about my own personal struggles with mental health, to set the tone and allow them to feel comfortable, open, a little more vulnerable with me. And the concept would organically evolve through these conversations.”
Find creative ways to capture the essence of an anonymous subject:
“The curator, Susan Todd-Raque, wanted these images to be anonymous, so it was a challenge to create a portrait and story without showing anyone who the person was, so the only person who knows who they really are is in these photographs. he is the shooter and the babysitter,” Soble said. “The curator doesn’t even know who’s in these photos.”
“I sent in an image … about a woman who had dealt with eating disorders her whole life and had a lot of generalized anxiety disorders and depression,” Soble recounted. “During the pandemic, she learned hula-hooping, not only to do something to strengthen her core, but it was also something she could really focus on and control. That was kind of helpful in calming her down about her anxiety and also helping her feel good about her body issues. So I shot it from behind, but the only part I did was a slow shutter speed of the hula hoop movement, so it creates part of the composition.”
On freeing sufferers from the stigma of mental illness:
“When we think about how wonderful it was for Rosalyn Carter to come out for the first time in the ’70s and really talk about mental health in this country, [it] it was really revolutionary, given the time,” reflected Troppy. “You turn the page and it’s 50-odd years later. I don’t know how far we’ve really traveled down that road, and I think we have a long way to go when it comes to really opening the doors to both mental health and mental health issues… I’ve recently been writing these little short stories about my family and my childhood, and I realize that every family has… an alcoholic or a drug addict or someone who suffers from a mental health problem.”
“My experiences have been very helpful when I have been transparent about my mental struggles. And I used to feel very embarrassed, when I was younger, about it; and had been taking some type of medication on and off since he was 17 or 18 years old. And there were times when I just got off my back, because I was like, ‘Oh, I’m great.’ I understood this,’ and soon you realize it’s not like that,” Soble said. “Our brains are very mystical and magical and extremely interesting, and we don’t really understand the chemistry of why some things work for others and others don’t.”
“We Live Among You” is on view through October 29 at Gallery 72, as part of the Elevate public art project in Atlanta. More information is available at https://www.elevateatlart.com/schedule
