© Pauly V., Vials (1), film photography and cyanotype on insulin fact sheets and corrugated plastic, 34 x 26 inches, framed. Image: A medical insert pamphlet with small text and photos instructing how to self-inject insulin and information about the medication. Printed over the insert in cyanotype is a photo of 3 insulin vials. Around the border of the pamphlet are smaller photos of signs to buy diabetic medical supplies from folks.

In this ongoing series, Megan Bent interviews and shares projects by disabled/chronically ill photographers. The definition of dynamics is “forces or properties which stimulate growth, development, or change within a system or process.” Each of these artists is approaching their work in ways that embrace this meaning, enacting change and raising important questions about societal systems through their ideas, craft, and processes they use.

Pauly V (he/him) is an eco/experimental analog photographer, a diabetic test strip sign collector, and a photo blogger who lives with chronic illness (type 1 diabetes, Lyme) in so-called Kalamazoo, Michigan. His artistic work is a direct response to late-stage capitalism and escalating climate catastrophe. He publishes and distributes KZOO FILM PHOTO, a photography zine.

The artist states:
Much of my work is a direct response to the status quo of for-profit so-called healthcare. Through the production of my work, I have created agency and meaning for myself and, I hope, for others living with chronic illness. In many ways, the art itself is a reflection of what it is like to live with diabetes: a practice in accepting and embracing imperfect results in a complex and (at times) unpredictable process. Consider: what does it feel like to live in an economic system that values profits more than one’s own life, and in a culture that keeps that system thriving?

© Pauly V., Leslie Gulch (2), film photography and cyanotype on diabetic test strip fact sheets, 12 x 10 inches, framed.  Image: A medical insert for blood glucose test strips. There is small text on the paper with instructions and information about the test strips. Printed over the text is a cyanotype print of a landscape. There is a rising hill ending in a butte.

MB: To start, would you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

PV: Sure! I am a disabled artist, primarily using photography to express myself creatively. I’m a zine maker, a risograph printer, a darkroom user, and a nature lover. I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan with my partner of 16 years and with our cat and dog. When I’m not creating work related to healthcare, I’m experimenting with photography, using a location’s available water supply and foraged materials to create place specific developers.

Last fall, I put on an exhibition called Care Before Profit: A Diabetic Perspective on Healthcare Under Capitalism. I’ve been photographing and removing diabetic test strip signs for years now, and I had this awesome opportunity to put on a show after I received a grant from my local arts council. I printed my photos mainly using the cyanotype processing onto different medical supply materials.

© Pauly V., Self Portrait (2), film photography a cyanotype on diabetic test strip boxes and insulin fact sheets, 11 x 14 inches, framed. Image: A medical insert pamphlet with small informative text. Collaged on top are two flattened medication boxes that have been coated in cyanotype. On each box, Pauly has printed a close-up self-portrait, a white male with eyes in shadow and a close-shaven beard.

MB: How did you get started with photography?

PV: I got my start with photography sometime in 2009 when I began using a Pentax K1000 that I had borrowed from an uncle. I was in my early 20s at the time, and I remember feeling super curious about the camera and mostly perplexed about how film worked. I just started making photographs with it. I made photos on and off for a few years, but never with much regularity, and really only on camping trips or special occasions. At that time in my life, it was very hard for me to afford the film and the processing costs. When a friend gave me his old Canon EOS Digital Rebel in exchange for changing the brakes on his truck, I stopped using film entirely. I used digital for a while to take photos of family events and trips, but I never got into using it for creative photography, and I quickly lost interest in digital photography completely.

Then, in 2021, I found the K1000 that I had been using and it had a partially exposed roll of film in it! I also found 4 or 5 other rolls of exposed, undeveloped color film. I finished the roll that was in the camera, dropped all of the film that I found off for processing, and I was entirely hooked! It was early in the pandemic at the time, and I was struggling mentally and emotionally, and rediscovering photography made such a difference in my life. I felt like I was coming alive.

Still, if I was going to be making photos at the rate that I wanted, it was clear that the cost of film and processing was too much for me. Film and processing is so expensive! Pretty quickly, I learned about home developing and the use of caffenol as an eco friendly alternative to traditional darkroom developers. After a quick cost analysis, it was clear that I could save loads of money by using black and white film and processing and scanning the film at home. So, that’s what I started doing. It turned out that having control of the developing and scanning process would be incredibly important for me when photographing creatively, so it was a win-win.

Picking back up the camera was life changing for me. Because I live with chronic illness, my experience with “mental illness” can get particularly challenging. There are stats out there so support this: people like me who live with chronic illness experience depression and anxiety at a much higher rate than the general population. Because of this, rates of suicide are also higher for people like me. I experience depression and anxiety pretty regularly to varying degrees, and in the past I’ve experienced suicidal ideation which can be such a scary and concerning thing! I wouldn’t say that photography has saved my life, but the creative process has been such an effective and life changing resource for me, particularly while moving through super difficult experiences of mental and emotional distress.

© Pauly V., Self Portrait (4), black and white film photography. Lomography Fisheye 2 camera, Kentmere Pan 400 film, developed in caffenol. Image description: A black and white photo with a fisheye lens. Pauly’s arms are outstretched, holding the camera pointed at himself. He is wearing a striped shirt. Over his face is a sign “ Diabetic Test Strips” with a phone number.

MB: What does illness/disability mean to you personally, and what does it mean in your work?

PV: My answer to this might change depending on what mood you catch me in. Because of the mental state that I am currently in, I feel that I sometimes can only see the barriers that prevent me from living a full and healthy life. I hate to admit it, but that is my current outlook. Right now, I’m working a job that has been giving me massive amounts of stress and anxiety. I feel trapped because my job is what provides me access to the health insurance that I need to survive. With the support of my partner, I’m currently trying to reimagine what my role at my job can be like – reducing my responsibilities and the hours that I work. Those in leadership at my job have also been supportive in this, and I am so grateful for that. Most people don’t work in a supportive environment that acknowledges the impact of disabilities. My workplace has been happy to provide accommodations.

I choose to view disability through the social model which is to say that I view the barriers I face as a result of my environment and other social factors, not due to my disability. That being said, I’ve never been one to downplay the impact of my disabilities—the burden is huge and the weight of it all is often crushing.
Despite the barriers that I face, disability and chronic illness give me an opportunity to turn my frustrations into something creative. This has been tremendously healing and empowering for me, and my creative work around diabetes and healthcare have given me agency and voice. It has helped me find a supportive community and I am so grateful for that.

Pauly V., ..i., (7), film photography and cyanotype on insulin fact sheets and corrugated plastic, 20 x 15 inches, framed. Image: A medical insert pamphlet with small informative text on the medical supplies. Printed over the pamphlet in cyanotype is a photo of sign with text “CASH Pay for Diabetic test strips”. In the foreground is Pauly’s hand holding his middle finger up to the sign.

© Pauly V., Dollar Tree, film photography and cyanotype on diabetic test strip fact sheets, 11.5 x 6.5 inches, framed. Image: A medical insert pamphlet with small informative text on the medical supplies. Printed over the pamphlet in cyanotype is a photo of sign with text “CASH Pay 4 Diabetic test strips”. In the background is a DollarTree store.

MB: Can you share more about your diabetic test strip sign photos? I feel like part of the power in them is the repetition of images, that there are so many signs.

PV: I’m glad that you see the power in the repetition of them! I see it in the same way. I removed my first sign in 2019 and began doing so regularly thereafter. I started taking photos of me giving the signs the middle finger on my cell phone, and switched to using film exclusively in 2021. I try to keep a cheap, plastic camera on me at all times for when I run across a new sign. They’re easy to carry around and the aesthetic of photos that they produce is exactly what I like for this application.

The test strip signs mostly show up in low income neighborhoods and in high trafficked areas. The people who post the signs are taking advantage of and are preying on low income folks who end up selling their necessary medical supplies because they need the money. The people who post the signs buy the supplies for cheap and then resell them for a profit to people who are un- or under-insured. It’s a disgusting practice, and it’s harmful.

The test strip sign photographs come directly out of my lived experience with Type 1 Diabetes. My hope is that the work that I’ve created speaks to anyone who is chronically ill, or who is forced to engage with the so-called health care system that we have in the US. The system is so extractive! What I find interesting about the test strip signs is that they aren’t part of what we would typically call the healthcare system—they’re a symptom of it, though, and their existence is only possible because of the way that capitalism pervades every aspect of our lives. It is always looking for a way to take from us.

© Pauly V., Vials (2), pinhole photography on direct positive paper, developed in 20 ml insulin, 5 x 4 inches Image: A black and white photograph of a pile of empty vials of insulin.

MB: You recently developed a photograph with insulin. Can you talk more about that process and its meaning?

PV: As I mentioned before, I develop all of my film in caffenol, which is a film developer made from coffee, vitamin C, and washing soda. I’m always interested in lessening my environmental impact, so developing film in this way is important to me. I’ve recently been experimenting with making plant extracts and using locally foraged materials to make developers. It was through this type of experimentation that I realized that I might be able to develop photographs using insulin as a phenol source. Phenols are the compounds that are largely responsible for development. So, I tried it and it worked!

I made the image using a pinhole camera and direct positive paper. I am able to develop the paper inside the camera using a very small amount of developer, which is important because insulin is so fucking expensive! The last time I checked, the list price for 1 vial of insulin is about $330. I used the equivalent of 2 vials of insulin (20 ml) to develop the image. For a little more context, that amount of insulin is enough to keep me alive for approximately 1 month—the photo cost me one month of my life!!

I knew that I wanted to try developing the image with insulin, and so using the empty insulin vials as subject matter seemed fitting. In a similar way as the test strip signs, the large number and the repetition of the vials is powerful. If you’re thinking about the cost of insulin when you see this photograph (which I hope you are), you can see in a very clear way just how expensive this disease can be. It is worth noting that 1 in 4 people with diabetes have reported rationing insulin. Rationing insulin is when someone takes less insulin than what their body needs in an attempt to make it last longer—this has serious health complications and people have died because of it. Capitalism literally kills.

© Pauly V. Pacific, S. of the Klamath, film photography and cyanotype on diabetic fact sheets and corrugated plastic, 34 x 26 inches, framed. Image: A medical insert pamphlet with small informative text on the medical supplies. Printed over the pamphlet in cyanotype is a landscape of rocky shoreline.

MB: I love how you incorporate medical materials into your practice. Can you share more about your decision to print on the boxes from medication or the informational pamphlets sent with medication?

PV: I knew that I wanted to use the cyanotype printing process because it was cheap, accessible, and versatile. I had seen people online printing onto unique materials before, and it just sort of struck me one day that I could probably print onto the boxes and the inserts that I get with my supplies and medication. This thought actually struck me after making only a couple of cyanotypes, so I’m actually pretty glad that it worked the way that it did.

One reason that I printed onto this material is that I felt like I needed a way to show the photos in a compelling way that connected the test strips signs to the larger, mainstream healthcare system. I wanted to it to be clear that it wasn’t just the test strip signs—the insulin manufacturers and the medical technology companies are also implicated in the same capitalist scheme. I think that because these companies tend to operate in “legitimate” markets, people can excuse their profiteering. I hope that my message is clear: it is never okay to profit off of someone’s disabled body.

© Pauly V., Jacket, black and white film photography. Lubitel 2 camera, Ilford HP5+ film (pulled 2 stops) developed in caffenol. Image: A black and white photo of a coat on a hanger hanging from a wire fence. The coat is made out of the “Cash 4 Diabetic Test Strip” signs.

MB: What responses have you received to your work?

PV: A lot of people tell me that they recognize the signs from around town, but either never stopped to think about what they were about, or were confused by them. Most of the responses that I’ve gotten have been positive and from people who are grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the issues with for-profit healthcare. I’ve had people who work in public health come up to me and tell me how grateful they are for my work. I’ve had tons of people with diabetes connect with me, also, and thank me for what I’ve been doing. Very rarely do I have anyone who will vocalize any sort of opposition to my work, which suits me, because I am very averse to conflict!

© Pauly V. DIABETICGUY.ORG, black and white film photography, Nikon Action Touch camera, Fomapan 400 film developed in caffenol. Image: A black and white photo of a telephone pole. On the pole is a sign with similar font and design of the Cash 4 diabetic test strip signs, but this sign says “DiabeticGuy.Org”, Pauly’s website.

MB: You make a lot of amazing zines. Can you share more about what zines mean to you as an art form? Where can people find them?

PV: Thank you for saying so! I love zines so much. In many ways, creating zines have allowed me to engage with my younger self in a way that I feel I had missed out on. I think it was because I was so incredibly anxious. When I was in my teens I was very much into punk rock. I found belonging in that culture, but I never really tapped into my creative self during that time. Still, I think that it was because of the belonging that I found there that I was able to form the foundation of many of my convictions. Now, through making and distributing zines, I get to engage the part of me that I wasn’t able to express so many years ago. Zines making also gives me a way to connect to the punk rocker that is still very much alive in me.

From my perspective, zines and DIY publishing have always been rooted in the free exchange of information and ideas, and zines are a place where counterculture can thrive. In a capitalist society, the exchange of information is controlled by the wealthy in order to further concentrate their power and to promote their fascist agenda, which we are seeing happen right now. DIY publishing is an alternative to mainstream, corporate, and government controlled media platforms–zines give us a radical way to share ideas, imagine what is possible, and build meaningful connections with one another.

It is important to me that some copies of KZOO FILM PHOTO will always be free, so I’ve begun distributing them with the help of others through little free libraries all over Kalamazoo. It is a goal of mine to distribute them on bike or on foot to reduce the environmental impact. When I do sell the zines, revenue goes to support mutual aid in my community and goes toward the purchase of diapers and menstrual supplies that get distributed for free. Aside from finding me and my zines at the occasional zine fest, info about the zines and links to my online store can be found at kzoofilmphoto.com

© Pauly V., Lesman’s Market, film photography and cyanotype on insulin fact sheets and corrugated plastic, 22 x 28 inches, framed. Image: A medical insert pamphlet with small informative text on the medical supplies. Printed over the text in cyanotype is a collage of images featuring telephone poles with signs to buy diabetic medical supplies.

MB: Who are some artists that have influenced you and your work?

PV: The initial inspiration for the test strip sign/middle finger photos are Ai Weiwei’s own middle finger photos. I’m seriously influenced by Nan Goldin’s photography and her work challenging the power of the Sackler family and their responsibility to the opioid crisis. There’s a diabetic street artist called Appleton and a Los Angeles based artist Diana Wyenn (with her performance of BLOOD/SUGAR), both of whose work have made it feel okay for me to make creative work specifically about diabetes. Without their work, I am not sure that I would have given myself permission to actually pursue the work that I am making.

MB: What are you working on now? And is there anything new and upcoming that you want to share?

PV: Right now, I’m working on re-imagining how I engage with my photography. Since 2021, I’ve exposed, developed, and scanned so much film. It is incredibly time consuming and I’m exhausted! The amount of photographs that I had been taking and processing has become unsustainable for me, so I’m trying to figure out how I can pivot in my process and still feel satisfied in it.

I’m currently trying to figure out a clever way to keep working with the diabetic test strip signs. I’m making my own version to the test strip signs; I’m printing them using the cyanotype process onto medical info sheets like I used in my exhibition last fall. I’m posting my signs up on telephone poles in the areas in which I’ve removed the original signs, hopefully directing people to my website in order to bring some awareness to the issues and my work.

Living in west Michigan, I’m surrounded by a culture that is deeply rooted in dominant Christianity. In a similar way as the test strip signs, there are countless plastic signs with messages like “LOVE LIKE JESUS”, “PRAISE GOD ALMIGHTY”, and “BE HEALED IN THE NAME OF JESUS”. This last one infuriates me. It is so incredibly ableist! News flash: I don’t need to be fucking healed! Or fucking saved, for that matter! So, I just had a bunch of DIABETICGUY.ORG stickers made so that I can amend the signs and redirect some of that roadside attention to my artwork: be healed in the name of diabetic guy! And of course, I’m making photographs which will appear in a zine that I’ll have ready for Diabetes Awareness Month, along with some other fun stuff.

Coming out of my CARE BEFORE PROFIT art exhibit that I did last fall, my friends Jake and Nick Girolami and I made a documentary about my process and the work that I’m doing around the signs. It has been selected for screenings at the Kalamazoo Filmmaker Showcase, Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti, and it’s screening on June 22nd at the Sunflower Film Festival. We’re also taking it to Ontario to screen it at a retreat for adults with Type 1 Diabetes with a very cool Canadian organization called Connected in Motion.

Learn more about Pauly V at:
https://diabeticguy.org/about/diabetes/
Care Before Profit Video
https://kzoofilm.storenvy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p___v________/

Megan Bent is a lens-based artist interested in the ways image-making can happen beyond using a traditional camera. She is drawn to processes that reflect and embrace her disabled experience; especially interdependence, impermanence, care, and slowness. Her work has been exhibited domestically and abroad at venues including The U.N. Headquarters, NY, NY; Root Division, San Francisco, CA; form & concept, Santa Fe, NM; F1963, Busan, South Korea; and Fotonostrum, Barcelona, Spain. She was a recent recipient of the 2023 Wynn Newhouse Awards. Her work has been featured in Lenscratch, Analog Forever Magazine, Fraction Magazine, Too Tired Project, Rfotofolio, and Float Photography Magazine.

Instagram: @m_e_g_g_i_e_b