TCU professor Sharrona Pearl explored the work of 19th-century psychiatrist Hugh Welch Diamond in an article published by The Financial Times. Diamond, a London asylum superintendent, was considered the world’s first photographer to use images of patients as tools for diagnosis and therapy. Twenty-two of his asylum portraits went up for auction on December 10 at Christie's in London, with an estimated value of $133,000 to $267,000 USD. The pieces were part of a sale of books, manuscripts, and photographs from the library of The Royal Society of Medicine.
"He wanted to make people better and put them back into the world," says Sharrona Pearl. "He also enjoyed experimenting and liked the idea of bridging his expertise in medicine and photography.”
Through her expertise, Pearl highlights the power dynamics that some have speculated existed between Diamond and the women in the portraits.