The 18th of February, nature photographer Kurt Lolo of Lolo Pics shared a photograph with the title " Vertigo ", a picture that shows the point of descent of a waterfall, with a view that shows the perspective one has when you view the waterfall from above, rather than at the bottom where it ends. It is a very dynamic photograph, that manages to create this unnerving sensation of being under the hypnosis of the height we find ourselves on, that gives the fear that we will fall towards the precipice. It is a sensation that apparently has varied and complex physical causes. There are even illnesses that manifest themselves alongside various forms of vertigo. There are also psychological causes, like trauma, that in certain people can bring on vertigo. Kurt Lolo's photograph honours in fact, a fascinating phenomenon.
The causes of vertigo are varied, and between 20 - 40 % of people have problems with vertigo because of physical manifestations, and the list of these causes is rather complex : there is Meniere's disease, and labyrinthitis, there is multiple sclerosis, migraines, brain tumors, cerebral lesions, trauma, and even vertigo caused by pressure in the inner ears, and then there are the very obvious causes, like an excess of alcohol consumption, or an excess of aspirin dosage, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The phenomenon of vertigo increases with age, and is two to three times more common in women. Vertigo also has psychological causes, such as trauma, where a person feels incapable of controlling their circumstances, and feels at the precipice of problems they perceive as insurmountable that risk to destroy them. Some illnesses associated with vertigo remain a bit of a mystery as to their causes, like labyrinthitis, which is an inflammation of the inner ear, or the nerves that connect to the brain. This illness can sometimes be the result of extreme stress, while Meniere's illness, which is an illness of the inner ear that causes vertigo, has physical causes, that can be treated with medication, but that however can also be a condition that lasts a lifetime.
Vertigo remains ambiguous in its causes and the solutions to remedy its symptoms. This gives me a new perspective on the vertigo that troubles me from time to time. As a child, I suffered many inner ear infections, so, maybe the vertigo in my case that manifests itself mostly in moments of extreme fatigue and stress, has a physical origin, that manifests itself in this phenomenon where one feels losing control of balance, accompanied by a rather strong sense of nausea.
Sir Alfred Hitchcock ( 1899 - 1980 ), considered one of the most important film directors and producers of modern cinema, has a 1958 movie " Vertigo ", with as actors James Stewart ( 1908 - 1997 ) and Kim Novak ( 1933 ), a film that is now considered one of Hitchcock's best, and is also considered one of his most disturbing movies. James Stewart in this film plays an ex - cop who suffers form an extreme case of acrophobia, and who is tasked in his new job to prevent the suicide of the wife of one of his friends. The film is now seen as a masterpiece, and is based on the 1954 book " D'entre les Morts ", by Boileau - Narcejac. The film was made in San Francisco, and was the first film to use the " dolly zoom ", that deforms the perspectives to create a disorientation to in this way illustrate the acrophobia of the protagonist. Since, we speak of the " Vertigo effect ".
The film is viewed as a study of obsession, specifically, the obsession of an anxiety driven man for a mysterious woman, where the vertigo is the result of his struggle for control over the elusive object of his desire. In that sense, Alfred Hitchcock's film is a document that underlines the possible psychological causes of vertigo, that 60 years later remain a point of unresolved controversy. And in that sense, Kurt Lolo's photo is very to the point, very modern, and very well made, in the irrefutable sensation the crushing energy of his photo gives, of creating the evocation of nausea, and the risk of losing control that one can experience when we find ourselves at the edge of a precipice, physically , or psychologically.
Trudi Ralston
The research on vertigo as a physical and psychological condition, and the research on Sir Alfred Hitchcock, and his 1958 film " Vertigo ", courtesy of Wikipedia.
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