A Picture in Mind

On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016. The Dust of Everyday Life consisted of a series of panel discussions touching on film, TV, theatre, photography, and writing, as well as stigma, social justice and raising awareness. This is a recording of our session on photographry, A Picture in Mind: Saying a thousand words without promoting stigma, in which we asked: how does the visual image help us to communicate the reality of mental ill health without reinforcing stigma? How are people using new media and traditional methods to tell their stories and address stigma? And what’s the alternative to the ‘headclutcher’ image for news reportage? The panel consisted of Graham Miller (documentary photographer and founder of Photohonesty), Alex Hewitt (photographer and picture editor) and Alison Kerry (head of media, Mind). It was chaired by Chris O’Sullivan (policy and development manager, Mental Health Foundation).