Mental disorders aren't often the subject of art pieces. However "It's Hardly Noticeable" is a series by photographer John William Keedy highlights just that. Over the past nine years Keedy has had a personal battle with anxiety, so he decided to vent his problems by creating photographs that display his affiliation as well as other neuroses. It explores the difficulty some individuals have with their sense of normal as well as our interpretation of abnormal behavior.
The presentation of the issue is interesting, giving people who otherwise aren't faced with mental illness a look into the affliction. As you can see below, there are examples of implied mental illness. A mountain of clocks indicates a person with anxiety over being up on time. An obsessive-compulsive person can't floss enough. Another person has agoraphobia and can't even pick up the many packages accumulating at the front door. The images are sad in a way, revealing the struggle and torment that is a reality for some people.
The series sheds light on individuals who face these problems every day. It also presents the question of what the true definition of "normal" is and whose right is it to claim theirs as universal. Keedy asks, "Is it possible for a society to have a commonly held idea of what is normal, when few individuals in that society actually meet the criteria for normalcy?"
[viaMyModernMet]
