Stephen Bray: Photography and Psychoanalysis Interview, (Part Two).
Channel: Stephen Bray
Date: 03/09/2013

Stephen Bray, Author of Photography and Psychoanalysis, discusses the healing possibilities with psychiatrist Dr. Kemal Kuscu from Istanbul's Etnograf Institute.

He discusses the tyranny of 21st Century life, and how some technologies have led to an alienation in which people fail to notice both their surroundings and what is important in their lives.

A passionate photographer, Bray holds that photography has a 'magical' quality that pervaded his first contact with the medium and continues to influence his work today. As children we think in magical ways, he claims, and perhaps coming so early to photography this impacted his beliefs. None the less, as a psychotherapist as well as a photographer, his experience attests to the power of magical thinking in helping people to change.

Photography is neutral, he says. It may heal, but equally it may damage people if used unwisely. A camera is an extension of consciousness, he claims, it's a tool but people frequently project qualities onto it. He also explores the connection between psychoanalysis and systemic family therapy.

He concludes by begriming to define what a photograph really is . . . 

. . . more in Part 3.

Information: http://etnograf.org
http://photographyandconsciousness.com