A Sense Of Madness

A Sense Of Madness. Sited in a claustrophobia-inducing flat in Croydon (south of London) this project bears testament to the impact of mental illness on a life. Hynes-Allen’s young protagonist is pictured seemingly trapped in a world of mood controlling drugs, cigarettes and daytime television. The pictures reek of the dirty velour and nicotine-stained wood chip wallpaper.This project draws into sharp relief an underclass the mentally ill are forced by their illness to join. Paul Hynes-Allen’s work A Sense of Madness is no ordinary photo-documentary project – it is not another cold and analytical view of the ‘other’, or a concerned sociological rendition of a situation compassionately observed, but never really understood. This bleak story of loneliness, despair and isolation, though keenly observed and extremely well crafted, is the result of concern for a sick friend. Hynes- Allen made this project so much part of his personal experience that he has added his own belongings to the images; reinforcing his relationship both to the subject matter and to the subject. (MacDonald, Gordon: CameraAustria magazine, volume 102, Austria 2008, p 62.)

^the story of andy.