Photographer Explores Tangible Anxiety Through A Haunting Photo Series

You may wonder, “If anxiety were tangible, what would it look like?” These pictures reveal the answer to that question, aptly dragging the viewer inside the labyrinths of the victims’ minds.

In May 2019, I wandered into the novel and dismal world of anxiety, exploring the muted obliteration it causes. I spoke to family members and close friends about the symptoms, consulted a few mental health therapists, and explored my own encounters. My personal experience of anxiety left me utterly withered and I was distressed to realise that there are people out there who have it much worse. This led me to flesh out unique characters for a photo series dealing with lashes of mild to clinical anxiety as well as panic attacks.

The Anxiety Series is a painterly still photography series coalescing a vibrant and poignant fusion of art, poetry, and a social message on mental illness. The photo narrative brings out stories of both genders, revolving around the lives of eight fictional characters. Both young and old, these characters are drawn from different social classes and are shown to be afflicted with different types of anxiety disorders caused due to several conditions like loneliness, work exhaustion, bullying, PTSD, and more.

The stories are all set in different locations of Bangalore, India, a country in which mental illnesses still go unnoticed and are often undermined. However, these emotions are universal and so are the prejudices they incur. This series communicates the gruesome effects of anxiety to a wide audience. It is also an attempt to empathise with the victims by giving them a voice. I believe that this subject needs to be addressed now more than ever. I hope my work fosters empathy for those who are locked down due to the pandemic and struggling to cope with reality amidst the agony of their own minds. I want them to know that they’re not alone, and this too shall be history someday.

More info: kamatharjun.com

What do you do when your mind convinces you that the lives of yourself and your family are under a constant threat? Gopi’s struggles of dealing with a traumatising past are unfathomable, to him and to others alike.

The pressure on a 20-something Indian woman to get married is traumatizing, and Rini knows it all too well. Would she sacrifice her happiness for the sake of a tradition?

Having struggled with fat-shaming all his life, Shilom has sunk into a deep labyrinth of comparison, low self-esteem, and self-hatred that he cannot find his way out of.

A child being told that he has to follow the stringent rules of the society is the worst of heartbreaks. Attempting to explore his sexuality, Samar is constantly bullied, for all he is and all he can never be.

Consumed by work deadlines and the constant fear of not being good enough, Naina’s struggles are a reflection of many millennials hustling in today’s tumultuous grind of making a career and a life.

Our fears and insecurities are not always rational, but when they become all too real, hell is spun loose. Welcome to Delilah’s world, grim and scary, always trying to grab her by the throat or stab her with a knife.

Everything is never as it seems. The world tells him he has it all. In response, Madhav’s screams and struggles are muffled beneath the work load, the desolation, and the criticism he is handed at every turn.

How cruel is it to sacrifice a life of self-dependence and passion to that of everyday drudgery that no one is grateful for? Once successful in her career, Sanvi now takes care of the family, smothering her dreams for theirs.

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