An explosion of visual hysteria

[image error]I've written an article for the magazine fotografya about how photography was initially used by doctors to document 'hysteria' in the 19th century but quickly became a vector through which the condition was spread.

The most influential photos came from the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, where, under the direction of neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, hysteria was redefined to mean the appearance of apparently neurological symptoms, like paralysis or epileptic-like movements, without any clear d...