All in this together

What are the psychological effects of a pandemic and how do we look back on these times of social isolation? Has it changed how we relate to others and the world around us?

Mafalda Rakoš (AT) questions the impossibility of captivating someone else’s inner world through photography. But also how portraying others relates to discourses around representation, especially in anthropological research. What bigger picture is revealed by looking at the state of our mental health in a capitalist society?

All in this together is both an artistic and anthropological investigation. Together with four protagonists – Sara, Elias, Flora, and Manuela – the artist questioned how social isolation affected their mental health and their non-substance addictions. During their quest, elements of art therapy, documentary photography, performance, and anthropological research all blended together.

Through sessions involving conversations, drawings, and portraits, Rakoš tried to render something invisible – a sense of loneliness, confusion, or even harmony and calm – visible on camera. As the meetings unfolded, their dialogical character took center stage, and another question emerged: How can such an artistic project overlap with a therapeutic process, and where should they be kept strictly apart?

With an essay by Alexander Cabeza Trigg, and conversations with James Davies and Anna Rakoš.