Too Tired Week: Louis Quail: Big Brother

Too Tired Week: Louis Quail: Big Brother by Kelly BurgessApril 12, 2022

Artwork ©Justin Quail, Image description: Self portrait.

Too Tired Project is a nonprofit arts organization advancing mental health advocacy through photography. They work to develop and expand the ways photography can positively impact mental health—online, in person, and in print. Current initiatives include rotating exhibitions, a traveling slideshow series, a photobook publishing imprint, and social engagement via their instagram. This week’s features are curated by our Executive Director, Kelly Burgess, and spotlights artists who are making work exploring issues related to mental health.

Big Brother is not only an intimate study of Louis Quail’s brother’s (Justin) struggle with schizophrenia but is also commentary on the mental health crisis at large in the UK. Over the course of six years, Quail photographed Justin’s life with a documentary approach, creating a tender and warm portrait of what it’s like to live with schizophrenia. The work is a celebration of Justin’s life and the things and people he loves, and a way to fight the stigma around mental health. In the statement of Big Brother, Quail notes that an estimated one in four people will struggle with mental health issues at some point in their life. A lack of funding a public awareness of this is what drove him to begin making the work. In this project, Quail rallies against the destructive stigma around Justin’s schizophrenia by capturing his everyday experiences – his love of birdwatching, his relationship with his long-term girlfriend Jackie, and includes some of Justin’s own paintings and poetry.

At home in Mortlake, London. Justin’s conditions means he is often feeling depressed. He oscillates between highs and lows; often the lows are attributed to high doses of drugs to control the behavior associated with the highs. Sometimes however he is just down or exhausted from lack of sleep. He hates taking the drugs complaining they create a “fog” that makes life like “wading through mud”.

©Louis Quail, Justin Feeling Rough in His Kitchen, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin, at home in Mortlake, London.

Louis Quail is a documentary photographer who increasingly devotes his time to personal, long-term projects. His most recent work ‘Big Brother’ (published with Dewi Lewis, 2018), has received significant critical acclaim. It ( and parts) have been shortlisted for the Arles Book and Text award 2018, Wellcome Trust photography prize 2019 and is winner of the Renaissance Series Prize 2017. His Arts Council funded, Solo show, ‘Before They Were Fallen’ also received significant exposure. It toured the UK and reflects an interest in aftermath that has taken him, previously to Libya, Afghanistan, Haiti and Kosovo. He has worked extensively for some of the UK’s best known magazines and has been published internationally over a period of many years. He has twice been a finalist at the National Portrait Gallery portraiture award and is held in their permanent collection. He lectures, exhibits internationally and makes short films.

©Louis Quail, Justin Close Up, East Sheen, from Big Brother. Image description: A picture of Justin, close up, taken in East Sheen.

Big Brother

Big Brother is an intimate photographic portrayal of my brother, Justin’s struggle with schizophrenia. It utilises multiple sources of documentation to show his life from different perspectives; his art, my photographs and narration juxtapose with medical and police records. The work reveals a system in crisis, but at its heart is a love story and a project that values and celebrates those suffering from mental health.

Schizophrenia is a disease that can wreck lives; it can explode whole families (it did ours) and leave shock waves that can be felt generations later.

One in four of us will suffer from a mental health problem in the UK this year. Despite this, funding is shrinking and increasingly the police have to step in to fill the space; with sometimes absurd consequences.

Justin has been sectioned three times in his life and there is no getting away from the fact that his condition is severe. Yet hopefully as we turn the pages and get to know him better, we see there is more to Justin than his illness. He has interests, hobbies and yes, loves. Justin has been dating his girlfriend, Jackie for over 20 years; although its not always a straightforward relationship. Nevertheless, the love story is central to the projects narrative, revealing their lives and also the authorities ‘Kafkaesque’ and clumsy attempts to both care for, and or control the pair.

Justin’s passion for bird-watching is a theme which knits the book together from start to finish; the resilience he draws from this hobby is an important theme.

This book did not set out to be a political polemic; rather, my intention was to fight stigma and share Justin’s story so we can understand, empathize and celebrate Justin’s individuality. However, inevitably by studying the problems affecting my brother, the work speaks of and draws attention to the crisis in mental health care, raising important questions about how we look after our most vulnerable citizens.

Justin’s continued visits to the now abandoned Mereway Day Centre are a testament to its hold on him. It was his go-to drop in centre for 23 years (and for our mother). Its closure around 2007 comes against a backdrop of government cuts within the mental health industry (including other favourites for Justin such as the Level Crossing and Centre 32 ) which if anything has been accelerating in recent years.

©Louis Quail, Justin Visits his old Day Care Centre, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin’s continued visits to the now abandoned Mereway Day Centre are testament to its hold on him. It was his go-to drop-in centre for 23 years before its closure in around 2007 against a backdrop of government cuts to mental health services.

Maghera’s Cross viewing spot near Portrush, County Atrim, Northern Ireland Justin and Jackie spend a week in the area, Jackie use to come here as a girl and still has family here.

©Louis Quail, Justin and Jackie at Maghera’s Cross viewing spot, Northern Ireland, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin and Jackie at Maghera’s Cross viewing spot near Portrush, County Atrim, Northern Ireland.

Jackie is Justin’s girlfriend, Like Justin, she also suffers from schizophrenia. Jackie spends most of her day drinking, smoking, sleeping and watching telly. When I first met Jackie she was an agoraphobic and would rarely go out suffering as she does from panic attacks, although this seems to be better these days. Jackie used to work on cruise ships as a hairdresser and had her first break down when she was 21:

©Louis Quail, Jackie At Home, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin’s girlfriend, Jackie at Home.

Justin has discovered a disused garage near his art class in Roehampton and poses for a portrait next to the tree opposite. Hanging out here appeals to his “hobo’ outdoor sensibility. Although to many this might be a dirty den used by drug users, Justin has much more romantic notions of its use as a focal point for an alternative lifestyle. He is high on life and his mind is whirring with chaotic thoughts, excitement and a constant flow of ideas. Although it can be harder for Justin to stay within the confines of society’s expectations in this state, for me, it’s much better than the alternative, which can be a debilitating depression. One in four of us will suffer from a mental illness in our lifetime (or a related condition in any one year). Those suffering, have to face a wall of stigma and stereotyping which very often makes their condition worse. In these Pictures I document, my brother’s struggle with Schizophrenia. Justin has been sectioned three times in his life and there is no getting away from the fact that his condition is severe, yet hopefully as we turn the pages and get to know him better, we see there is more to Justin than his illness. He has interests, hobbies and yes, loves.

©Louis Quail, Wrapped in Nature, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin has discovered a disused garage near his art class in Roehampton and poses for a portrait next to the tree opposite. Hanging out here appeals to his “hobo’ outdoor sensibility.

Justin Meditating .Its reassuring that Justin often looks to manage his illness with activities that improve his sense of well being, rather than resort to smothering uncomfortable thoughts with drugs and alcohol. Justin has discovered a disused garage near his art class in Roehampton. Hanging out here appeals to his “hobo’ outdoor sensibility. Justin’s mental health tends to oscillate between highs and lows, pictured here he is high and his mind is whirring with chaotic thoughts, excitement and there is a constant flow of ideas crowded up like a snarled traffic. Although to many this might be a dirty den used by drug users; Justin has much more romantic notions of its use as focal point for an alternative lifestyle.

©Louis Quail, Yoga Pose, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin doing Yoga.

©Louis Quail, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin bird watching, at Kempton Park Reservoir, his passion for bird watching helps him with his mental health.

Justin and Jackie have been dating, off and on, for over twenty years. At one point marriage was on the cards; and Jackie is still planning this but one of them would have to give up their home, which they decided, might put too much stress on the relationship. Jackie tells me about the beginning, “We just sort of got together - it was like a magnet to a magnet. He kissed me on the sofa at the Level Crossing day centre - it was ever so romantic - and I thought, ‘ah I’m in love!’” One in four of us will suffer from a mental illness in our lifetime (or a related condition in any one year). Those suffering, have to face a wall of stigma and stereotyping which very often makes their condition worse. In these Pictures I document, my brother’s struggle with Schizophrenia. Justin has been sectioned three times in his life and there is no getting away from the fact that his condition is severe, yet hopefully as we turn the pages and get to know him better, we see there is more to Justin than his illness. He has interests, hobbies and yes, loves.

©Louis Quail, Justin and Jackie Share a Tender Moment, East Sheen, from Big Brother. Image description: Justin and Jackie have been dating, off and on, for over twenty years. They are pictured here in Jackie’s flat sharing tender moment.

Jackie follows Justin as he searches for birds in a field near Tring, Hertfordshire. One in four of us will suffer from a mental illness in our lifetime (or a related condition in any one year). Those suffering, have to face a wall of stigma and stereotyping which very often makes their condition worse. In these Pictures I document, my brother’s struggle with Schizophrenia. Justin has been sectioned three times in his life and there is no getting away from the fact that his condition is severe, yet hopefully as we turn the pages and get to know him better, we see there is more to Justin than his illness. He has interests, hobbies and yes, loves.

©Louis Quail, Justin and Jackie Bird watching and Walking, Tring, from Big Brother. Image description: Jackie follows Justin as he searches for birds in a field near Tring, Hertfordshire.

Birdwatching, Minsmere (from memory) Finches and Pintail Marsh Tit, 22/12/2015 Justin had to learnt to cope on his own, in many ways. Under a regime of decreasing mental health budgets his Skeletal care team seem to have given up on any sort of therapy or involved social support other that basic practical and bio medical support. His hobby as a birdwatcher, unconsciously or otherwise, has been a key part of his coping strategy; which he pursues, even when he is at his lowest ebb.

Kelly Burgess (she/her) is a project-based conceptual photographer, curator, publisher, and arts administrator that lives and works in rural Vermont. Emotional narrative is the thematic thread running through her work, with much of her own photography and writing coming directly from personal experiences.

Kelly is a regular editorial contributor to The New York Times. Her work has also been published in The Wall Street Journal, Kodak’s Kodachrome Magazine, GROW Magazine, PDNEdu, and Art New England Magazine – where she was featured as one of their 30 Photographers Under 30. Her sold-out book/project, Sing Me Back Home, has been exhibited internationally, more recently at the Arctic Arts Festival in Norway, MassArt Museum, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

In addition to her personal work, she has over a decade of experience in arts administration. In 2020 Kelly joined the Too Tired Project (tootiredproject.com), a nonprofit arts organization advancing mental health advocacy through photography, as their Executive Director. With TTP, she launched Too Tired Press, where she works as the Publisher. Her mission for Too Tired Press is to focus on creating transparent, equitable, and affordable relationships between artists and the publishing industry. www.kelly-burgess.com / http://instagram.com/kelburgess

Tags: Louis Quail, Mental Health, Schizophrenia, Too Tired