Books

Praise for I Thought I Could Fly

"Evocative images, eloquent testimony—a frank and often inspiring exploration of the experience of mental illness." — Peter D. Kramer, author of Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind and Listening to Prozac

"A timely and engaging book that mixes both heartfelt journalism and emotionally engaging photography. I comment as [the second of three generations] with bipolar disorder and as a psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of serious and persistent mood disorders." — Dr. Suzanne Vogel-Scribilia, Former President of NAMI

"With riveting images and moving words, this book provides a powerful and inspiring portrait of the far-reaching impact of mental illness in our lives today." — Devra Lee Davis, National Book Award Finalist and author of The Secret History of the War on Cancer

I Thought I Could Fly

I Thought I Could Fly: Portraits of Anguish, Compulsion and Despair

Edited and with Photographs by Charlee Brodsky

Price: $22.00

Trade Paperback
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-934137-09-3

A tree's bare limbs against a grey sky, a young woman's vintage slip, the view beneath a bridge's span. Charlee Brodsky's stark black-and-white photographs combine with a concise collection of moving personal narratives to form an eloquent ensemble of tragedy and hope in the struggle to cope with mental illness.

Charlee Brodsky, a professor of photography at Carnegie Mellon University, is a fine art and documentary photographer. Brodsky describes her work as dealing with human issues of beauty through everyday tales of life.

Brodsky exhibits her work nationally and has co-authored several books. Among her projects, her book Street, with poet Jim Daniels, own the 2007 Tillie Olson Award given by the Working Class Studies Association. In 2001, she and three others won an Emmy for their work on Stephanie, a documentary video about Stephanie Byram's life with breast cancer. Brodsky worked with Byram to produce the book Knowing Stephanie, which was one of the American Association of University Presses' outstanding illustrated books of 2004. With anthropologist Judith Modell Schacter, Brodsky explored Homestead, a former steel mill town. This work resulted in the book A Town Without Steel, Envisioning Homestead. Brodsky continues to walk Homestead streets, this time with writers Jim Daniels and Jane McCafferty.

This book is made possible through the generosity of Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Listen to an audio 'podcast' interview with Charlee Brodsky.

Please watch the book trailers by handmadevideo.org