Copyright © 2023 Hannah Norton

Twenty Seconds To Safety


My younger sister, Katie, developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in March 2020, our mother had a mastectomy and five days later England went into a national lockdown. The combination of these events created a perfect storm. Katie was deeply fearful that she would pass on the virus to our mother and make her fatally ill, whilst she was isolating in her student halls in preparation for coming home, her OCD began.


Watching my sister experience OCD made me aware of how narrow our understanding of OCD is, and how lazy visual tropes feed this ignorance. What struck me the most about Katie’s experience is how emotional it is, and how these emotions are not linear, or operate in binaries like you may imagine. OCD is unrelenting and nuanced.


Born out of love, fear and a desire to protect, Katie’s OCD has always been intensely emotional, and continues to be. The aim of the work is to make people aware of the hidden battle that OCD sufferers continuously experience, and to challenge common preconceptions. Those suffering with their mental health is at a record high due to the coronavirus pandemic and it is vital conversations continue to be had.


Discussing how her anxiety and emotional state are affected on a daily basis revealed a range of everyday scenarios where compulsive behaviour and thoughts present in different ways. Each scenario is illustrated with a portrait of Katie on which she has intervened to show the type and intensity of her anxiety. Katie took the framework we made together and used it to create a narrative story of the emotions she goes through within each situation. The resulting images are a visual representation of the emotional distress she experiences made possible by her creative participation.


Close up image of daughter hugging her mother in bed, image from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
profile view of young woman with coloured stickers on the image, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
girls head rests on mothers shoulder, image from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
profile view of young woman with coloured stickers on the image, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
girl closes eyes and rests head on mothers hand, profile view of young woman with coloured stickers on the image, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those liv
young woman looks at camera with hand on stool, with coloured stickers on the image, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
a younger hand grasps an older hand, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it
young woman lies on bed with hands clasped, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
older hands rest on young woman's shoulders, profile view of young woman with coloured stickers on the image, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living
A young woman looks off into the distance with her hands in front of her face, from a collaborative photography project shedding light on the invisible emotional turmoil Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD has on those living with it.
Using Format