In an unflinching – and at times difficult to look at – series of images, the award-winning American photographer Andrea Star Reese has documented the horrific conditions experienced by Indonesians suffering from mental illness.
Living in the worst conditions imaginable, many with undiagnosed disorders, the Indonesians pictured here are locked up in institutions incapable of providing the care and support needed.
Travelling throughout the islands of Indonesia, visiting different hospitals and asylums, Star Reese turns her lens on the pitiable and dramatic conditions of the daily life of these people, living in chains and cages, behind bars, malnourished and unwashed.
While mental health was a subject often on the periphery of political parties’ manifestos during the recent general election, and without a doubt there is a lot more to be done, the disturbing look at life in a psychiatric hospital is a stark reminder of how ignoring the problem is never a solution.
Take a look through the images below:
