Fragments of a “photographic reverie”, shadows of the transference

This text offers an original approach to the practice of countertransference in the form of a photographic reverie. Photos taken by the analyst throughout the psychotherapy are interpreted as representations of the slag the patient deposited in the analytic space. The images open a field of reflection that fuels the dynamic of transference and countertransference. This field considers psychological contamination, projected destructiveness, the elaboration of a symbolic form in the analyst, and the transition from the unrepresentable to the representable in the patient. It questions the role of the creativity of the unconscious, working towards the emergence of the symbolization process in the analysand and providing access to the disengagement from a shared unconsciousness.