Caitlin Cronenberg’s pop-up photo exhibit exposes truths about MS

CNW Group/Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

Caitlin Cronenbergis a young photographer who has made a name for herself chronicling fashion and celebrityas well as the cinematic process of her filmmaker father, David Cronenberg. So a press release issued last week headlined Caitlin Cronenberg Exposes the Reality of Young Women Living with MS appeared to signal a boldeven bravedeparture for her. Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a chronic degenerative condition that can lead to paralysis, depression, and blindness. Its a mysterious condition; progression varies radically; its cause is unknown. Nobody even knows how many Canadians have it: the much-repeated statistic of 50,000 to 75,000 people is out of date, an MS Society of Canada spokesperson told me months ago.

It doesnt lend to easy imagery. So I wondered: Is Cronenberg now delving into the dark, uncomfortable territory annexed so well by her dad?

But the reality that Cronenbergs one-night exhibit, DREAM/AWAKE, exposes is less about MS than about how a pharmaceutical giant can create buzz amid advertising restrictionsin this case, by linking a fashionable female photographer to a prescription drug targeted at young women. Thats whom multiple sclerosis strikes mostthree times more frequently than men.

Cronenberg was hired for the gig a few months ago by Weber Shandwick, the PR firm that represents Novartis Canada, a sub of the US $46-billion Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG. They told me they came up with the idea for the installation with me in mind, Cronenberg told me in a telephone interview. She was flattered. She also has family friends afflicted with MS, she says. A former neighbour shes fond of is now wheelchair-bound.

Cronenberg was given total artistic freedom on the project, she says, although the client provided three women to be photographed, all of whom were diagnosed with MS in their 20s or 30s, when the condition often strikes. Rebecca Webster of Weber Shandwick explains the women were chosen after they were nominated by their treating neurologists who felt strongly that this project was important to raise awareness about MS, especially among women.

The three had had success taking Novartiss Gilenya, a $31,000-a-year oral MS pill approved by Health Canada in March 2011 (until then, MS drugs had to be injected). Gilenya isnt explicitly mentioned in the press release. But as it happens, one of the women, Himani Ediriweera participated in Gilenyas clinical trials and was quoted enthusing about the drug in a 2011 press release.

CNW Group/Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

Cronenberg says she based 12 photographs on the womens stories. The resulting staged tableaux exude a dreamy, unworldly vibe that make no reference to illnessone woman appears to be in a childhood bedroom; another stands next to a red BMW and a toy sailboat; a third is in a shadowy room festooned with pages of paper. The press release describes the photographs in dramatic, yet upbeat terms: The images demonstrate the feelings of lossof body, family, opportunity or workand how each woman has reclaimed her life through treatment and become a figure of inspiration for young women fighting the disease.

The exhibit of Cronenbergs photographs was a one-night pop-up event on May 30, World MS Day, staged at a Toronto gallery that rents out to corporations wanting to imbue an event with arty patina (Loblaw Companies launched a new packaged food line there last year). Webster describes the affair as invitation-only for media and influential people. Cronenberg donated the work to a silent auction with proceeds going to the MS Society of Canada. Several thousands of dollars were raised, says Webster, declining to be more specific.

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Caitlin Cronenberg’s pop-up photo exhibit exposes truths about MS