Chasing The Sun is a series of images created in various states of mind of a person diagnosed with schizophrenia. As a Russian image-maker, Ksenia Rusu draws attention to the cross-cultural reality of living with this illness. Each photograph explores aspects of life with this illness, depicting different forms of paranoia and various experiences of psychotic symptoms in everyday life. Images are taken of familiar places and activities to the photographer; the photos are then edited in colour to correlate with the mental state experienced when the picture was captured. Chasing The Sun is a project that shows beauty in the darkness of living with schizophrenia. Mental illness is largely invisible, but in these images the sun can be read as a metaphor for the schizophrenia the photographer experiences. This project is put together as a response to, and a way to gain control over, a condition that many do not understand.
