See Change are launching ‘Look Beyond- a photovoice research exhibition’ at 6pm, 25th October in Smock Alley, Dublin. The exhibition will be launched by Professor Jim Lucey, Clinical Director of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services. ‘Look Beyond’ is an exhibition of photographs taken by a group of sixteen people who have experienced what it is like to live with mental health difficulties.
The exhibition is an output of a research project conducted by Dr. Maria Quinlan and Dr. Etain Quigley from University College Dublin and Maynooth University. The full research catalogue will be launched during the exhibition and a panel discussion on stigma and mental health will be held. The aim of ‘Look Beyond’ is to let people who experience mental health difficulties speak for themselves and by doing so help others to gain insight into what living with mental health difficulties feels like, and how relief, recovery and resilience can be found and nurtured.
There are two main emerging themes captured in ‘Look Beyond’. The first is ‘What does living with mental health difficulties look like?’ In this section, participants expressed their experience of what living with mental health difficulties is like. The second theme is ‘Coping mechanisms’. Here participants captured the activities and experiences they use to support their mental health along with the responses they received when they shared their mental health difficulties with other people.
Photovoice is a research and advocacy methodology which uses photography as a way of giving voice to people who often feel unheard and unseen in society. It has been used internationally to both explore and raise awareness of the stigma associated with experiencing mental health problems. A recent review of its effectiveness in the field of mental health research found it to be a “robust method ideally suited to describing mental illness”, with the capacity to illustrate the experience of those with mental health problems, while empowering groups who are often marginalised.
Photovoice is a person-centred and co-created research methodology that can be both a powerful and positive experience for the participants while also being an impactful way of providing deep insight into an issue for the wider society.
In total sixteen people participated in ‘Look Beyond’, taking over 250 photographs, and ultimately selecting almost ninety to share as part of the exhibition and associated catalogue.
Event Details
Where: Smock Alley, 6-7 Exchange Street Lower, Temple Bar, Dublin 8
When: 25th October, @6pm
Panel Discussion
Chaired by John Saunders, Director, See Change
Professor Jim Lucey, Clinical Director, St Patrick’s Mental Health Services
Dr. Maria Quinlan, ‘Look Beyond’ lead researcher
Paul O’Rourke, ‘Look Beyond’ participant
Rick Rossiter, ‘Look Beyond’ participant and See Change Ambassador
If you would like attend the launch you can register here
More dates and venues will be announced here soon.
