Re-Imagining the Self through Photography

Introduction

All photographs captured or maintained by an individual are a form of self-portrait or mirror of memories that reflects instances and individuals sufficiently special to forever be preserved in time. Together, photographs show the stories going on in an individual's life, and function as the visual footprints that identify where they physically and emotionally were at some instance in life, besides also potentially indicating where they may be headed towards next. Even their responses to postcards, photos clicked by other people, and magazine photographs may offer clues that shed light on their internal life and secrets. The true meaning of a photo does not lie so much in the graphic facts it holds as it does in the details that are called to the mind or heart of every individual viewer. When perceiving a picture, individuals, in effect, instinctively create meanings which, in their view, are emanating from the picture, which might or might not be what the photographer desired to convey in the first place. Hence, the emotional message and meaning of a photo depends on the viewer, as individuals' distinctive life experiences and opinions invariably and unconsciously frame as well as define what is perceived as real to them. Hence, the response of an individual to a photo which they perceive to be special may end up revealing quite a lot regarding themselves, should they pose the right sorts of questions (Weiser, 2008).

Halkola claims that photography within the therapeutic and medical context focuses chiefly on facilitating a person's capability of understanding and manifesting emotions, thereby supporting self-understanding. The name frequently given to such an intervention modality is Photo Therapy (Halkola, 2013). But academicians utilize this term within the literature for dealing with a broad array of interventions that typically differ greatly from one another and introduce photographic stimuli for distinct, multiple reasons (Loewenthal, 2009). Concurrently, the diverse legal requirements linked to therapeutic activity, as well as diverse types of licenses for practicing psychotherapy in nations, complicate the term's definition (Weiser, 1999).

What is Therapeutic Photography?

Therapeutic photography entails the capture, analysis, and use of photographs to assist with individual healing/recuperation, development, or understanding, both conscious and unconscious. Through active construction, examination, and reflection on photos coupled with pairing them with creative written compositions,one can better understand oneself and how one perceives the world around oneself (The One Project Education, 2020).

It is a well-known adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. But how far is this claim true? It all relies on how one utilizes it. The use of photography in medical therapy is a practice that can be traced as far back...

Following the Second World War, recovering war veterans banked on photography as a hobby; however, its therapeutic advantages were observed as well, which resulted in this approach's implementation in several civilian hospitals in the nation for facilitating patient recovery from mental and physical ailments (Glover-Graf & Miller, 2006). Ever since the start of this century, therapeutic photograph usage has been segregated into the following two groups: therapeutic photography and phototherapy.

Academic researchers have realized and acknowledged the benefits yielded by photography in exploring lived experiences, as it is capable of rendering details and possesses an air of authenticity, which accords its distinctive power and appeal. Through structuring this assessment against a socio-ecological backdrop and theory grounded...

…to exist in the absence of a theoretical context, is marked by a greater focus on a methodological procedure as opposed to following one single theory. Though the emphasis on theory calls for an emphasis on theoretical constructs and contexts at the micro or general levels based on dependence on micro or macro theories, focusing on the technique renders it possible to facilitate the development of an avenue enhancing and supporting reform and revolution. Consequently, the technique influences the intervention, since it indicates the investigators take several key decisions while considering photography incorporation into their work with patients (Saita & Tramontano, 2018).

Conclusion

As PhotoTherapy entails the interaction of individuals with their personal, distinctive visual representations of reality, such methods may prove especially effective with individuals having limited physical, emotional, and mental, verbal communication skills, socio-culturally marginalized populations, or in case of situationally inappropriate communication owing to not understanding nonverbal signs. Furthermore, as PhtoTherapy deals with photography in the form of communication instead of art, there is no need for experience with using a camera for successful use in therapy. Society growing ever more comfortable with the use of digital images and electronic technology gives rise to more exciting opportunities for the use of photographs in the form of a counseling instrument with patients owning digital cameras, scanners, family websites, image-manipulation software, and those capable of engaging in web-based/cybertherapy. To sum up, as PhotoTherapy constitutes a set of flexible methods instead of set directives that are founded on a single therapeutic model or theoretical modality, it may be employed by all qualified therapists, irrespective of their theoretical orientation, the extent of past familiarity with the process or activity of photography, or favored theoretical approach or intervention model. Effective therapy, in itself, represents art that requires the maximum number of intervention instruments possible to…