In 1979, photographer Merrick Morton (@merrickmortonphoto) received a California state grant to document the Volunteer Program at a psychiatric hospital in Los Angeles, a project that led him to return again and again over the next year and a half.
Warning: Some of Morton’s photos are distressing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Morton’s brief was to capture a series of photos that could be used in a “slide presentation” — a PowerPoint in today’s parlance — that could be used to recruit members of the public willing to spend time with the patients for socialization purposes…