Maria Theresia Bartl

Maria Theresia Bartl’s book describes her very personal examination of her diagnosis with breast cancer. She set out to document her path in photographs and kept a kind of diary, not, however, with the aim of narrating the course of the illness, but rather of expressing a zest for life. From a subjective stocktaking of the Wilhelminenspital (Wilhelmine hospital) in Vienna, to the self-timer photos in the series Körperarchitektur (physical architecture), to images describing the path back to normality, this book tells not only of the fear of the unknown, of how one views one’s own body and its changes, but also of a great desire to stage. The texts elucidate facts and scientific standpoints, but also report on personal states and express philosophical thoughts.