“It’s Hardly Noticeable,” the title of San Antonio-based photographer John William Keedy’s remarkable photographic series on anxiety, is decidedly ironic. It was a phrase he committed to his diary at a moment when he thought he was succeeding in hiding his illness to the outside world. As he says, “I was so convinced I was doing such a great job of concealing my anxiety, when really I wasn’t.” As Keely also noted: “So it’s ironic, a little tongue-in-cheek. The images themselves are so theatrical, and over the top and not by any means subtle. But it’s like, ‘Don’t worry, it’s hardly noticeable.’”

Keely was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder eight years ago—his photographs are an attempt to deal with the issue in an artistic way. The pictures are carefully composed to seem ostensibly “normal” but to unsettle the viewer in a very subtle way.

“The idea of mental illness for those that haven’t experienced it firsthand is that it’s something purely psychological. But for me, a lot of it was physical,” says the photographer. “You know, the doorbells work, and the lights are on inside. But in order to use them, you have to go though this really physical pain.”
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
via Metro