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forward slash the candid frame.

This is Ebody and X, and this is the Candid Frame.

Since the invention of the brownie, the camera has been an ever-present device in our lives.

It's been there for weddings, births, first steps, baptisms, bar mitzvahs, and endless parties.

They have been there to memorialize those moments of our lives that are all too fleeting. Yet some photographers

have used the camera to delve deeper into what it means to be a family and to be human. These

photographers have moved beyond idealized imagery and have been brave enough to explore issues of

abuse, addiction, and poverty.

Photographer Melissa Spitz's documentation of her mother's lifelong struggle with mental illness is one such work.

The images are honest, poignant, and sometimes very painful to look at. And though some have been quick to describe them

as exploitive, they bring attention to an issue that is all too often relegated to secrecy and shame.

If you've ever lived with a loved one with mental illness, you'll see a lot that's familiar in these images.

And if you haven't, I hope that the photographs and this conversation provide you insight

and a bit of compassion for those who face this challenge every day.

Well, I'm really excited to talk to you about your work and your project.

Oh, thank you.

You know, with mental health issues, even in today's age, with so much awareness, there's so much misunderstanding, shame, isolation that occurs, not only to the people who suffer for mental illness, but the family and friends of them. And so when I saw the work and I saw how intimate

it was and how personally it was, I was really moved by it and I really wanted to have a chance

...