Portraits, patients and practitioners

Jordanova, Ludmilla

doi:10.1136/medhum-2013-010367

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Medical photography and portraiture can also be seen as an art in itself. Ludmilla Jordanova has explored the varied history of portraiture within medicine, which she describes as ‘ubiquitous’ and as ranging from portraits of doctors and patients, to those which document unusual cases or conditions 31. Dermatology uses the visual to read the medical signs of the body; yet, the visual appearance of skin can also be read for a multiplicity of other meanings.…”

Section: Dermatology Photography and The Anatomical Bodymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Classifying the body in Marlene Dumas'The Image as Burden

Gordon

2017

Med Humanities

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Medical photography, and in particular dermatological imagery, is often assumed to provide an objective, and functional, representation of disease and that it can act as a diagnostic aid. By contrast, artistic conceptions of the images of the body tend to focus on interpretative heterogeneity and ambiguity, aiming to create or explore meaning rather than enact a particular function. In her 2015 retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern, South African artist Marlene Dumas questions these disciplinary divides by using medical imagery (among other photographic sources) as the basis for her portraits. Her portrait 'The White Disease' draws on an unidentified photograph taken from a medical journal, but obscures the original image to such a degree that any representation of a particular disease is highly questionable. The title creates a new classification, which reflects on disease and on the racial politics of South Africa during apartheid. Though, on the one hand, these techniques are seemingly disparate from the methods of medical understanding, features such as reliance on classification, and attempts at dispelling ambiguity, bring Dumas' work closer to the history of dermatological portraits than would usually be perceived to be the case. In considering the continuities and disparities between conceptualisations of skin in dermatology and Dumas' art, this paper questions assumptions of photographic objectivity to suggest that there is greater complexity and interpretative scope in medical dermatological images than might initially be assumed.

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Section: Dermatology Photography and The Anatomical Bodymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both Ludmilla Jordanova and Mechthild Fend have pointed out the interplay of words and images as crucial in medical portraits and the portrayal of disease 24 31. This is, however, also a feature of artistic portraiture.…”

Section: Medical Illustration and The Meanings Of Illnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classifying the body in Marlene Dumas'The Image as Burden

Gordon

2017

Med Humanities

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“…Artistic representations of medicine and illness are present in anatomical and physiological maps of the human body, medical instruction manuals, treatment documentation and aesthetic works that have, over the centuries, facilitated the discovery and understanding of various aspects of medicine, health, illness and disability 1. Portraits, in particular, have been used to depict, illustrate and explain medical pathologies, pathopsychologies and trauma,2–5 to commemorate and critique physicians and their practices6 7 and to empower, inform and inspire patients, physicians and viewers alike 8–10. Portraits have also been found to embody a metaphorical power that serves as a potent source for analysis 7 11.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Portraits, in particular, have been used to depict, illustrate and explain medical pathologies, pathopsychologies and trauma,2–5 to commemorate and critique physicians and their practices6 7 and to empower, inform and inspire patients, physicians and viewers alike 8–10. Portraits have also been found to embody a metaphorical power that serves as a potent source for analysis 7 11. The experience of the process of portraiture, however, has yet to be explored in a clinical setting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Portrait of a process: arts-based research in a head and neck cancer clinic

Gilbert¹,

Lydiatt

Aita

et al. 2016

Med Humanities

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The role of art in medicine is complex, varied and uncertain. To examine one aspect of the relationship between art and medicine, investigators analysed the interactions between a professional artist and five adult patients with head and neck cancer as they cocreated portraits in a clinical setting. The artist and four members of an interdisciplinary team analysed the portraits as well as journal entries, transcripts of portrait sessions and semistructured interviews. Over the course of 5 months, 24 artworks evolved from sittings that allowed both the patients and the artist to collaborate around stories of illness, suffering and recovery. Using narrative inquiry and qualitative arts-based research techniques five emergent themes were identified: embracing uncertainties; developing trusting relationships; engaging in reflective practices; creating shared stories; and empowerment. Similar themes are found in successful physician-patient relationships. This paper will discuss these findings and potential implications for healthcare and medical education.

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“…Yet, it is far from straightforward to consider how the subject's selfconstructed ideal may constitute an act of asserting subjectivity. To do so, Ludmilla Jordanova (2013: 2) argues that consideration of the social relationships within which the photographs were made is needed to understand the levels of self-expression permitted and the degree of coercion on the part of the asylum. However, owing to the lack of archived documents pertaining to the photographic practices at the asylum, it is difficult to reconstruct such details.…”

Section: Portraiturementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond a clinical narrative: casebook photographs from the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum, c. 1890s

Plessis¹

2015

Critical Arts

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In this paper, I argue that casebook photographs of the mentally ill can potentially move beyond a record of a clinical case to bring into view an understanding of patients as individual subjects. My argument is based on an exploration of three selected photographs from the casebooks of the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum circa 1890s. Unlike the standard trope of casebook photographsuniform mug shots that are archetypal images of classification, control and surveillance -the identified casebook photographs are characterised by a diversity of genre, style and origins. These elements all act upon the readings of the photographs, resulting in shifts in meaning and interpretation. For example, the photographs point to the prominence of aesthetic influences from broader visual culture such as portraiture and photograph albums. Accordingly, the photographs can be argued to accrue in meanings beyond any dominant clinical context or narrative. More importantly, what becomes comprehensible is that the interpretative context for the photographs is located precisely in terms of the individual sitters' acts of posing, constructions of self-presentation and connections to socio-cultural worlds beyond the asylum.

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Portraits, patients and practitioners

Cited by 11 publications

References 5 publications

Classifying the body in Marlene Dumas'The Image as Burden

Classifying the body in Marlene Dumas'The Image as Burden

Portrait of a process: arts-based research in a head and neck cancer clinic

Beyond a clinical narrative: casebook photographs from the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum, c. 1890s

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