Manic phases are one of the hallmarks of bipolar disorder. During the course of a year-long project about the disease, I shot in many different situations and with a good number of patients. The woman on this picture told me that manic phases induce in her an irrepressible urge to paint and to create. She loses sleep, creates and paints, unhindered, and without any perceivable constraints as the brush runs over the canvas. She described it as a very pleasant moment and is very proud that the disease unlocked her creative potential as a painter. She poses here with some of her paintings. - Geneva, Switzerland, 29 March 2018