A few days ago I happened across a photograph of Joseph Merrick (below), who suffered from Proteus syndrome. I hadn't seen this picture in years and it was almost as if I was looking at it for the first time. One of the striking things about it, I think, is the clear gaze from his left eye (right hand side of the image, obviously), set in small patch of 'normal' temple and cheek. You glimpse a 'normal' man, fully conscious, and dignified, behind the monstrous mask of deformity.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHqE0bVcCKtk_wASUjN6jtXJUN40vCrk62-VzwGB1LAvUqlpC7EUlFwkOUPXbVFn2c1El6kaO-LODIs7ur26M9vzYbxxDSsiP4_L-g9TwBLszmuMbhvZw6zIrgdgN7zH1izkxLh5J41188/s400/Joseph+Merrick+2.jpg)
Merrick is due respect and remembrance as a human being. At the same time, the images of his skull (below: photograph front view, CAT scan side view) look to me like metaphors for some of the mental deformations (and masques) that individuals and societies sometimes undergo.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX1dn9iXgLK_OZAwB2MaXxuYngDJ-SDMiBgSQrFF6CZxbpqu_6yHkaCJoSVgck3XvgzpxmXMEMLINWVF07iVdXzzeVtg1MckXqlzkbWTOhJh-Xf-oH1VBIqcb447Z2wa-Z7vuDD1xZI5gI/s400/skull_h_zoom.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjH06CY8SNSPBh69OdmegqBBkK8R98Y4mq4CoMJc_2l-EwjEQddkhVNqd1bZjWRU9iZvT5iGCucn3hPrAV1SqkRxe3NLgR945rz9uWvOQCs7pdiZ5-GOwGvqkifCspH6dTDQSDxbYn5jz/s400/Merrick+catscan.jpg)
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