Public photography exhibit featuring birthmarks positively impacts participants, attendees

Key takeaways:

• All participants agreed the experience was “positive,” “helpful” or “valuable.”
• 85% of attendees agreed that the event made them feel better about their skin and accepting of people with visible difference.

The photographic exhibition of those with congenital melanocytic nevi had a significant positive impact on participants and attendees, demonstrating options for psychological interventions, according to a study.

“As recently as 25 years ago, it was common practice in the U.K. for children with extensive birthmarks to be advised to hide their birthmarks as much as possible, with separate changing areas made available for them at school, and routine avoidance of sports such as swimming or dancing that might lead to a birthmark being seen,” Morgan B. Zolkwer, BSc, PhD student at the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Centre for Appearance Research, and colleagues wrote. “Although well meant, the message was essentially that there was something ‘wrong’ with the child, and that it was something shameful to be hidden. It is not surprising in this societal context that birthmarks could lead to psychological distress.”

Zolkwer and colleagues conducted a photoshoot and public art display of individuals with extensive congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) called “How do you C Me Now?” to evaluate its impact on individuals’ self-confidence and the public’s perception.

Caring Matters Now, a U.K. charity supporting those affected by CMN, partnered with a photographer for the study. Thirty participants (age range, 7 months to 47 years; 21 females) were photographed for approximately 3 hours in a London studio, with the first hour dedicated to ensuring the participants were at ease.

Participants or a parent completed a pre- and post-photography questionnaire addressing their experience during the shoot and their self-perception before and after the event. Of the more than 8,000 exhibit attendees, 464 completed an on-site survey detailing their opinions of the photographs.

Results showed that 100% of participants reported that the photographic experience was “positive,” “helpful” or “valuable” and 90% reported that the experience made them feel better about their appearance.

Participants also reported an increase in self-confidence. Before the event, 33.3% of participants reported that their CMN dictated what they wore compared with 8.9% after the event. On a scale of 1 to 10, mean confidence scores rose from 7.1 before the event to 9 after the event.

Of those who attended the exhibition, 51% had heard of CMN and 11% had CMN themselves. Results from the on-site survey showed that more than 85% of respondents agreed that the event improved how they felt about their own skin, increased acceptance of their own looks and made them more accepting of people with visible difference.

Traditionally, photographs of individuals with extensive birthmarks have been used for medical indications only. However, this study suggests that photography that focuses on the individual rather than the condition may benefit patients’ self-confidence and self-perceptions, according to the researchers.

“While the participants could be argued to already have robust self-perception to put themselves forward for such an experience, the clear demonstration here of measurable beneficial psychological impact afterwards compared to before is a radical proof of concept,” Zolkwer and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, in the era of social media, where the negative psychological effects of posting self-photographs are frequently reported, the positive effect of this exhibition on the views of the general public is a perhaps surprising demonstration of the power of this novel approach.”