Whose Face? Whose Body?

A single face can provide us with a lot of information about a person, including their identity - who they are. The act of recognising the face of someone familiar is part of everyday life and for the majority of people, the majority of time we are able to do this quickly and effortlessly. This is not always the case. Many factors impact our ability to recognise a person’s face and some people live with prosopagnosia (face blindness). So, it’s important for us to consider what it would be like to live without faces and to understand that face recognition is more complex than we perceive.

The Victorian freak show now seems like a shocking and cruel relic – exploitation of people with unusual bodies, who would now be treated and even cured by medical science. However, when looking at the lives of freak show performers, is this really the case? Can the medical profession of this era be accused of having much in common with the freak show? This talk focuses on Joseph Merrick, known as The Elephant Man, exploring his representation in contemporary film, debating whether he escapes the confines of freakish display.