Using photography as a therapeutic process and personal research, Giorgia Tobiolo’s work can be interpreted as a circular practice: raising internal questions stimulates her to examine the external environment.

In this two-way relationship, strongly and intimately empathetic, she is keen to reveal the humanity, beauty and vulnerability of labelled or stereotyped subjects or topics, often objects of prejudice.

The stories she is naturally drawn by and the relationships she establishes with subjects are almost always metaphors to talk about herself and reveal, relive and try to understand what lies behind life as well as universal big questions.

Giorgia enters their lives on tiptoes and there she finds inspiration to move forward, to break down indifference towards certain people or topics, and to give a voice to people that need recognition, support or inclusion.

About The (.) Error — words by Giorgia Tobiolo:

PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) is a cyclical hormone-based mood disorder, which affects 5.5% of females and AFAB (assigned female at birth). PMDD is just an “error”. It is a severe hormonal condition triggered by the neurosteroid Allopregnanolone, or ALLO, and so a severe negative reaction in the brain. Sufferers experience symptoms during the latter part of their menstrual cycle (with symptoms lasting a few days to two weeks or more)—they include depression, anxiety, irritability, rage, joint pain and fatigue, sleep issues, and even suicidal ideation.

PMDD occurs during the luteal phase when the brain has a severe negative reaction to the natural rise and fall of estrogen and progesterone that happens each month—the period arriving means the end of symptoms is in sight. It is a suspected cellular disorder in the brain, an error. It can be a life split in two, severe enough that 30% of those with PMDD attempt to take their own life at least once in a PMDD episode. Yet PMDD remains largely unheard of, with patients massively undiagnosed/misdiagnosed, because of the complexity and the uncertainty of arriving at the final diagnosis.

The (.) Error starts by exploring my personal experience, after years of not understanding if there was an “error” in my body. Reading through the information that I found online, I realised that I was potentially part of it and suddenly I found the answer to all the questions I had about myself from a young age. After sharing my experience with other people, I noticed there were many similarities. I felt very close to these individuals I barely knew and felt so similar to them, and this made me feel less wrong about myself and who I am.

The project is an attempt to reconstruct the feelings of uncertainty and “wrongness” I went through over time, and that I shared with the amazing human beings affected by PMDD. As a woman, I felt the need to support the cause and create a better life for future generations and for the sufferers. Also, with my work, I try to reveal the humanity, beauty and vulnerability of people affected by this condition and break down the indifference towards the topic, by giving a voice to those who need support and light, about a disorder that just a few know, doctors and therapists included. Awareness is a paramount and so it is research and thanks to them I hope people will feel less lonely and less wrong – fundamentals of my whole artistic practice.

Maria Teresa Salvati presents photographers seen through their intimate and personal motivation, their Spot of Beauty.