Mathias de Lattre developed an interest in natural psychedelics, in particular psilocybin mushrooms. For ten years, he had the intuition that they might constitute an alternative to the psychiatric treatment of his mother. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder twenty years ago, and the drugs prescribed to her, paradoxically, degraded her health heavily.
His research on psilocybin, a naturally-occurring hallucinogen produced by around 180 species of fungi, led him through prehistoric times, mycology, and medicine. From painted caves in southern France and traditional medicinal practices in the jungle of Peru, to scientists researching psilocybin in London and Zürich, Mother’s Therapy unites science and humanity. With texts and images, the book provides context to the psilocybin-based cure given to his mother—apparently with some success. No militancy, he is simply submitting relevant material to the record.
Mathias de Lattre (born in 1990) lives and works in Paris. The valedictorian graduate from the Icart-Photo school in 2012, he started his career making portraits for the press. He then gradually shifted to still life, in particular for the luxury industry, and teaches photography at various American universities. His personal portraiture and landscape projects have been exhibited in Paris and Brussels and his work published in numerous magazines. He published his first book, Mother’s Therapy with The Eriskay Connection. This project was exhibited at Circulation(s) festival during spring 2021.
Mathias de Lattre’s photographs will be exhibited during the upcoming 21st International Festival of Photography Fotofestiwal in Łódź, Poland. This year, three festivals will take place in Łódź—Fotofestiwal has invited the Photomonth festival from Minsk (Belarus) and the Odesa Photo Days festival from Odessa (Ukraine). More info at www.fotofestiwal.com.
