Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK.
Health (London). 2011 May;15(3):241-57. doi: 10.1177/1363459310397974.
This article argues that visual images, particularly photographs, can provide an alternative visual language to communicate pain. It suggests that selected photographs of pain placed between clinician and patient can help trigger a more collaborative approach to dialogue within the consulting room. The participatory roles of artist and clinician as well as patient in the co-construction of meaning and narrative are acknowledged. Comparing images from two projects, Perceptions of Pain and face2face, the article uses Barthes' distinction between a 'denoted' and 'connoted' message to suggest the possibility of an underlying generic iconography for pain. By drawing on selected images and audio recordings from both projects, the article demonstrates how visual images re-invigorate verbal language and vice versa. It highlights how, in placing a photograph between two people, meaning is created within a social context as much as via the configuration of signs within the photographic surface. It is suggested that a resource of pain images, such as that created in both the projects described here, could be a valuable communication tool for use in NHS pain clinics.
本文认为，视觉图像（尤其是照片）可以提供一种替代的视觉语言来传达疼痛。它建议在临床医生和患者之间放置精选的疼痛照片，可以帮助在咨询室中触发更具协作性的对话方法。承认艺术家和临床医生以及患者在共同构建意义和叙述中的参与角色。通过比较两个项目“疼痛感知”和“面对面”中的图像，本文使用巴特的“所指”和“内涵”信息之间的区别来暗示疼痛的潜在通用图像可能性。通过引用两个项目中的选定图像和录音，本文展示了视觉图像如何重新激活口头语言，反之亦然。它强调了如何通过在两个人之间放置一张照片，在社会背景下创造意义，就像通过照片表面的符号配置一样。有人建议，类似这里描述的项目中创建的疼痛图像资源可以成为 NHS 疼痛诊所中有用的沟通工具。
