CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATIONS OF GRIEF AND PAIN: VISIBILIZATION, AGENCY AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE IMAGE

Acronym: RECODO

PI: Montse Morcate
Funded by: Convocatoria: PROYECTOS DE GENERACIÓN DE CONOCIMIENTO 2022. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades

Lenght: 01/09/2023 – 31/08/2026

The project deals with visual narratives and images related to processes of grief and pain with the aim of analyzing and detecting the processes of visibilization of certain people and groups that suffer from them and that are invisibilized or stigmatized. At the same time, the capacity for action and agency of these images is addressed, as well as their potential as mediators of the grieving process. This project connects with previous research projects carried out by the PI and other members of the team, whose central elements were illness narratives and the ethics of images of disease, death and grief. On this occasion, the main elements of the research, grief and pain, delve into new territories and contexts thereof, transcending the field of illness, such as the visual representation of certain medical conditions, mental health, obstetric violence, functional diversity or neurodiversity. In the same way, it delves into the representation of grief beyond the process of dying and death, with special interest in disenfranchised grief, such as pregnancy loss or grief linked to degenerative processes. Individual and collective losses caused by traumatic events, abuse of various kinds or those caused as a consequence of sociopolitical processes or war conflicts are also included. One of the main objectives is to identify individuals and groups that suffer from a marked visual underrepresentation of their reality or whose condition has been represented based on stereotypes, contributing to the minimization, stigmatization or denial of their suffering and pain.

On the other hand, the project analyzes the different contemporary photographic practices linked to this type of images, and their use, publication and circulation, with the aim of expanding knowledge about the ability of these images to provide agency to the individuals represented or questioned and to generate a social impact. The research, focused on making grief and pain visible, therefore also has a character of social interest that focuses on the importance of care, integration and equality, as well as the contribution of the image as a potential element of debate and social changes.

On the other hand, the project analyzes the different contemporary photographic practices linked to this type of images, and their use, publication and circulation, with the aim of expanding knowledge about the ability of these images to provide agency to the individuals represented or questioned and to generate a social impact. The research, focused on making grief and pain visible, therefore also has a character of social interest that focuses on the importance of care, integration and equality, as well as the contribution of the image as a potential element of debate and social changes.