Leiden University Student Repository

Kreij, Esmee de (2023)

More than a Self-Portrait: Photography as Self-Therapy to Deal with Mental Trauma after Physical Trauma

Master thesis | Media Studies (MA)

Dealing with one’s mental health after experiencing physical trauma is brave but sharing one’s own experience with a broader public opens up an important conversation about trauma and mental health. Contemporary emerging photographers deal with their trauma through self-portrait photography, which has a therapeutic function that is self-initiated but also opens up a bigger conversation. By showing visible and invisible traces of their traumatic experiences by taking self-portraits, these photographers deal with their personal traumas via self-reflection. This thesis uses visual analysis to analyse two main case studies and their peers to see how self-portrait photography can be used to reflect on mental trauma after experiencing physical trauma. The aim is to see how self-portrait photography specifically can be used to reflect the mental trauma that is left after having suffered from physical trauma that was inflicted onto the body.

Trauma, Self-Portrait, Photography, Traces, Mental Health

Author

Kreij, Esmee de

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Film and Photographic Studies

Supervisors

Shobeiri, S.A.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en