Photographer Documents Her Struggle with Bipolar Disorder

Symptom is a collection of photos by Argentinian photographer Magali Agnello that inadvertently chronicled her experience and feelings with bipolar disorder.

“It was 2016, in which I had proposed to carry out a project (for the third time) that consisted in taking one photo per day throughout the entire year,” Agnello tells PetaPixel. “And without knowing it, symptoms of the so-called bipolar disorder were gently showing in the photographs.”

It wasn’t until a year later that Agnello found out she had the disorder, and that caused the photos to take on a new meaning.

“Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder,” Agnello says. “It can completely change the optics through which a person views life. It is characterized by varying between periods of depression and periods of mania, without being able to maintain a stable mood.

“The disorder isolates you, indebts you, takes away the ability to keep commitments over time. And in a series of photos it can be observed, especially its worst face: the depression.”

“Photography was a way to channel it when it didn’t have a name yet,” Agnello says. “Photography, art, as always, was the way that also helped me understand myself.”

You can find more of Agnello’s work on Behance and Society6.