Full Circle Photography Gallery presents, It’s all in my head, a solo exhibition featuring the work of Nigerian photographer, Etinosa Yvonne. The photographs in the gallery explore the coping mechanisms of survivors of terrorism and conflicts in Nigeria and advocates and explores the impact of these events on the mental health of the survivors.
Nigeria, a country located on the west African coastline, is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state that struggles with terrorism, inter-communal clashes and violent conflicts. The conflicts do not target only government agencies or specific locations, but overflows and largely affects the rest of the populace including children. The first responders to these attacks, humanitarian organizations and government agencies, often only provide initial relief materials but very little is in place to address the mental health of survivors.
The images in the exhibition offers a small selection from the over forty portraits of victims. The side profiles are captured with multiple exposures of other scenes and objects ranging from blue prints to landscapes or even beans, providing a literal “look” into the head of the survivors. Paired with each portrait is written text from the trauma survivors. These texts describe their traumatic experience and/or their current coping mechanisms and provides further context at the end of the statements.
Yvonne notes that this series of work is meant to draw the attention of society to the state of mind of some of these survivors. “It is interesting to note that while these survivors find a way to rebuild and adjust to their new lives, many of them never get to talk about their experiences. Thus, the idea of ‘moving on’ can be considered a charade of sorts as they are often in reality stuck in the past while trying to start over.”
The gallery space is filled with soft, complex portraits and translated text that illuminates the internal trauma overlooked due to the non-stop state of emergency and conflicts. It’s all in my head uses and highlights photography as a medium to interact with the survivors and as a potential cathartic part of the healing process.
