Mary Ellen Mark was an american photojournalist. In 1975, Mark took photos on the set of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ where she met the women of Ward 81 for the first time. Along with friend and journalist, Karen Folger Jacobs, Mark spend 36 day on Ward 81 in Oregon State Hospital. In total 4,800 images were taken on 200 rolls of film.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Analysis:

Context/Concept:

Some mental hospitals in the 1970s were still using electric shock therapy as form of treatment for mental illness. This aimed to relieve depressive symptoms for a short period of time. Folger Jacobs wrote about how a patient was given shock treatment after refusing to take her medication and succeeded in harming herself.

Visual:

This image shows the required equipment for electric shock therapy on top of a table. The equipment is illuminated by light from a window on the right. The window is partially covered by wire arranged in diagonals.

The electric shock equipment demonstrates a treatment method commonly used on the ward. Folger Jacobs’ accompanying article suggests that treatment was given to patients regularly, however it was additionally administered if patients had a depressive episode. Other patients were not permitted and contact with fellow patients undergoing the treatment.

The wire covering the window on the right side of the images is likely to be a safety requirement to present patients from escaping the ward or attempting to harm themselves.