TOM McMAHON | Photography
MindScape
After recently being diagnosed with dyslexia, I felt lost, confused, and questioned, ‘Who am I?’ MindScape is a journey of self-discovery as I struggle to understand dyslexia and my identity within the world.
Throughout my life, I have struggled with my reading, writing, and short attention span. I often found myself ‘zoning out,’ where my mind would wander freely, drifting in and out of dream worlds. The images in MindScape are visualisations of these worlds. Through infrared photography and intentional camera movement (ICM), I capture surreal photographs that intersect the blurred lines between the recognisable and unrecognisable, where fact and fiction, past and present, collide.
MindScape transports us back in time, to the 1980s, and a harsh and traumatic classroom environment. The project documents my learning experiences as a child in high school, meandering through time and space to now, in my role as an undergraduate. The recent diagnosis has been crucial in this journey, as I am now able to reflect on the challenges of the past, coming to a deeper understanding, clarity, and acceptance of the disability and myself.
I see dyslexia not as a disability, but rather, as a gift. It allows me to see things and to think differently than others, allowing my inner creativity to grow and blossom.
I now feel proud to call myself a person with dyslexia.