Ex Lorenzo Ponce
Photographs taken inside the Institute of Neurosciences in Ecuador, formerly the Lorenzo Ponce psychiatric hospital.
Patients, doctors, visitors, and self-portraits appear side by side, blurring the lines between those who inhabit the institution in different ways.
I studied psychology twenty years ago and visited the hospital when it was still operating as a psychiatric center. What struck me most was the impossibility of distinguishing between patients, staff, or visitors. This experience led me to question the very terms of normality and illness.
As Gabor Maté argues, the distinction between what is considered normal and abnormal is a cultural construction. Societies that support and care for neurodivergent individuals allow difference to exist without exclusion, creating a space where “madness” finds meaning through connection and collective understanding, emphasizing the importance of community and acceptance.
