M&C Saatchi partners with Rankin and MTArt Agency to launch VISUAL DIET, a campaign exploring the impact of imagery on our mental health

What’s your diet? Wholesome, healthy, naughty, gluttonous? What’s your visual diet? Narcissistic, addictive, sexualised, retouched?

We are force-fed tens of thousands of images every day. Many of these hyper-retouched, sexually gratuitous and highly addictive. We want to make people aware that, just like you are what you eat, what you see affects your mental health. Through this campaign, we aim to promote a balanced visual diet to prevent our audience from binging on overly-processed, body and mind -negative content.

The initiative is being led by Mimi Gray, Head of Visual Content at M&C Saatchi and partners with Marine Tanguy of MTArt Agency, an award-winning agency for the world's most exciting up and coming visual artists and world-renowned British Photographer Rankin, who believes that selfie culture is both monotonous and dangerous.

The health of our visual diet and its impact on our mental health will be explored at a forthcoming panel and exhibition to be hosted at the agency on 24 January.

The Visual Diet project also includes an in-agency exhibition of five inspiring artists throughout January, plus an Instagram account and a website, visualdiet.co.uk, where people can vote for which images they feel have a positive or negative effect.

The exhibition, on 24 January at M&C Saatchi’s offices on Golden Square, features five artists, including three represented by MTArt Agency, whose work engages with Visual Diet. 

1. Adelaide Damoah will be creating a piece of performance art for the project called “My Face” to challenge our self-image on social media and performing on our launch night.

2. Clemence Vazard will be showing her lightbox self-portrait currently on display in Paris, with a special-made audio reading of young women’s stories of how social media and media portrayal has affected their self-esteem. 

3. Federico Clapis will be displaying some of his sculptures, which deal with the social impact of art.

4. Joseph Turnbull will be displaying a large-scale installation of 96 painted studies from social media. The piece holds a mirror up to the superficial world of instant viewing and the three second rule phenomenon on Instagram.

5. Camila Gonzalez will be displaying her piece, “Instagram Face,” which illustrates the unattainable beauty standards set by social media platforms.