J. Fredric May is a former photojournalist and filmmaker. During open heart surgery in 2012, May suffered a major stroke leaving him legally blind and subject to vivid visual hallucinations. This life event changed his artistic vision, opening up an entirely new visual style.

Utilizing imaging software that corrupts visual data, May was effectively able to replicate what was happening with information within his own brain. He scanned found portraits, maimed their component features and rebuilt them to resemble how he now sees, in fragments, somehow familiar, yet strange.

May takes his layered composites and prints these as cyanotypes. He bleaches and tones his cyanotypes with a mixture of photo chemicals and tea. Ultimately, May digitizes the altered cyanotypes and create his final print. The result is his series of enigmatic portraits, Apparition: Postcards From Eye See You.

May's series received critical accolades from Photolucida’s Critical Mass and LensCulture’s Emerging Talent in 2017.

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.jfredricmay.com

Facebook: jfredricmayart

Instagram/Twitter: @jfredricmayart

We are always looking for interesting and visually appealing images for the cover of the Journal and would welcome suggestions or pictures, which should be sent to Dr Allan Beveridge, British Journal of Psychiatry, 21 Prescot Street London E1 8BB, UK or [email protected].