The Wheelchair
This is a photo/book combination activity based on a chapter from Jean-Dominique Bauby's The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly.
In this chapter, Bauby has his first experience with his wheelchair. Bauby explains how he hopes for his recovery, and how people and his thoughts of future projects bombarded him. He very much feels trapped and confined, like this image, which is of Rue Du Chat Qui Peche, one of the smallest roads in the world.
The hospital room which Bauby resides in, as well as the road in Paris, reflect Bauby’s inner mind and feelings. He feels as though his time is passing by and is being wasted while he watches all the busy people working to help him. Rue Du Chat Qui Peche is a very small road and has a fair amount of traffic. People pass by in this confining area like those in Bauby’s hospital room.
The physical and mental confinement is symbolic and is a large part of Bauby’s life with locked in syndrome. Bauby is trapped physically because he has very little control over his body. He is mentally confined and restricted to his own thoughts and memories as a form of entertainment and to pass time.
The photo is drained of its colour and is in black and white because it reflects his confinement and the lack of happiness. It also expresses his inner struggle that is watching the world go by and people passing along, continuing their lives. The angle intends to make the road look longer in length and smaller in width. The angle of the photo represents his long journey and the light at the end that is his hope for salvation.
Caitlyn
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