Describing the unsettling feeling of fear associated with phobias can prove difficult through words.  The question I have asked myself is “How can I visually represent the fabricated reality of phobias in a way that seems real to the viewer?”

Taking a photograph of an object, person, or place provides an exact replica that the brain can easily recognize.  An image of a knife and an image of a hand viewed separately do not appear abnormal to the mind.  The knife may invoke unwanted emotions in an individual afraid of it, but nothing at all in someone who is not.  What happens when the hand and the knife are displayed in a way that does not exist in reality? 

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The brain recognizes the subject matter, but instead becomes unsettled as it tries to make sense of the images. This idea is derived from Gestault’s principle, in which he states that the human mind is more likely to recognize an object as a whole before recognizing the individual parts.  At first glance, the viewer will see one object, then gradually realize the elements that create the whole. The nature of phobias is reflected in these morphed diptychs.  The cause and effects of these fears may appear real and whole to the person, but they only exist in the mind. These diptychs attempt to recreate this reality with photographs.