A Picture of Health: Jo Spence, a Politics of Disability and Illness

Joey Solomon describes his photographs as portraits featuring both “joyful queer expression” and “a deep well of despair.” Solomon’s prescription antidepressants and his hospitalizations inform his “disuse of color to focus on a monochrome world of foggy limbo, suspending reality in each frame on purpose, focusing on questioning form.” Part of his A Racket of Echoes series, Solomon’s hospital portraits document his experience of surviving a pelvic tumor. Ann Catherine Hughes, in Musée, writes that these photographs “kept Solomon emotionally grounded during a distressing time. For him, these pictures were meant to erase the taboos surrounding death and mental illness and in turn, also erases taboos around physical illness and disability.” While most of Spence’s hospital photos seem to be taken on the fly, Solomon’s photos are infused with both an elegant and raw reality. This contrast shows there are various ways to capture the subjective experience of a hospital setting and of the medicalized body.

Joey Solomon, Self Portrait After Second Tissue Biopsy. Courtesy of the artist.

This is a black-and-white photo of a young, dark-haired man lying in a hospital bed. The man's face is visible and he is wearing a hospital gown. There are various tubes and electrodes attached to his arm and chest.

Joey Solomon, Portrait Of My Arm. Courtesy of the artist.

This is a black-and-white photo of a person’s arm in a hospital bed. The room appears to be a hospital room with medical equipment visible.

Joey Solomon, This Is How I Had To Pee. Courtesy of the artist.

This is a black-and-white photo of a white urine receptacle placed on a hospital bed. The bed is covered with a blanket or some sort of linen.

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