Laura Hospes, a young photographer from the Netherlands, is one of my biggest inspirations. She’s only 21 years old and is described as one of the 50 best emerging photographers 2015.
She has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital for depression, anxiety and disordered eating after a suicide attempt and documented her stay there in a series of black and white self portraits. She published the striking work in a photobook called UCP, which is the name of the hospital she’s been admitted to. Laura said that she felt overwhelmed and confused when she first entered the hospital, and decided to rediscover herself through self-portraits.
“At first, I made this complete series for myself, to deal with the difficulties and express my feelings. After that, I want to inspire people who are or have been in a psychiatric hospital. I want them to see my pictures and recognise themselves in it. I hope they feel taken seriously, less crazy and less alone.”
All of the following work is © Laura Hospes
Just as I do, Laura Hospes uses her camera to express the feelings she can’t explain; and her perception of social media only showing the happy moments and not what’s happening behind closed doors reminds me of my own. She’s been one of the biggest inspirations for my own photography and she definitely will always be one of my favorite photographers.
She might have convinced me to publish my own self portraits one day.
Zoloft Zombie 