#MENTAL
HEALTH
SPRING/SUMMER 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY + HEALING
N A I Y D H A P W N A R A C G E O N T D O N H A P R B IN A T. H H S G E I R L F . E A V T I GE SPECT PER
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SARA HARLEY BEHIND THE SHOT:
“Destination Unknown” from her Comfort + Joy series.
IN THIS ISSUE 11
RESOURCES WE LOVE
13 K AT FULWIDER: YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY 16 R EPRESENTING IDEAS NEW BRUNSWICK COLLEGE OF CRAFT AND DESIGN STUDENTS EXPLORE MENTAL HEALTH By Karen Ruet 22 THE ONE PROJECT T HE POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHY TO CHANGE THE CONVERSATION By Bryce Evans
26 S HIRA GOLD: FINDING HER BREATH By Peppa Martin 34 RICK MILLER’S HOMECOMING By Kerry Manders 38 SARA HARLEY: STROKE OF EMOTIONS 40 M EGAN CONLEY: VULNERABLE EXPRESSIONS By Ali Penko 44 R EADERS GALLERY Submissions by our readers
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Photo by Margaret Mulligan
PHOTOGRAPHY: A TOOL FOR HEALING
“If you find yourself stuck in darkness, the first thing to do is find and start capturing the light.” — Bryce Evans
PHOTOED E IS 10 0% MAGAZIN NADA! CA MADE IN U FO R Y K THAN O PPORT! YOUR SU
MENTAL HEALTH IS AN ISSUE THAT AFFECTS US ALL, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. Since taking over as the editor at PhotoED, I’ve received incredible submissions and stories from across Canada shared by really brave, creative people who interpret and chronicle deeply personal experiences, using photography as a tool for healing. These powerful stories inspired us to create this special edition. Sometimes the images aren’t pretty, or clear, but the accompanying stories have real impact. We thought this edition would not only connect with our photophile readers, but also inspire all readers to pick up cameras and “seek the light.”
From artists who use photography as a conduit for local community connections such as Kat Fulwider with her work with Ottawa’s homeless youth, to Megan Conley, an artist working through personal trauma, to Bryce Evans, a photographer, entrepreneur, and creator of an online platform for people around the world
to connect through photography and to support conversations about mental health, we’re proud to share a few examples in this edition. We hope the people featured motivate you to start your own conversations, and perhaps to use your own photography tools in new and contemplative ways. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and sign up for our e-newsletter to keep up!
Your Editor, Rita Godlevskis rita@photoed.ca
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MAGAZINE
@photoedmagazine SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ISSUE #58 ISSN 1708-282X
@PhotoEdCANADA @photoedmagazine
PhotoED Magazine is published 3x/year, SPRING, FALL, & WINTER See www.photoed.ca for subscription and advertising information. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40634032 PhotoED Magazine 2100 Bloor St. West, Suite 6218 Toronto ON M6S 5A5
This issue was made possible with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council.
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
ART DIRECTOR
Rita Godlevskis /rita@photoed.ca Ruth Alves
CONTRIBUTING Bryce Evans Kat Fulwider WRITERS Sara Harley Kerry Manders Peppa Martin Ali Penko Karen Ruet
COPY EDITOR
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
COVER IMAGE :
Deborah Cooper Dominic Balasta “Higher Love” by Shira Gold
Promoting Contemporary Visual Arts since 1988
2020 EXHIBITION PROGRAMING March 6 – April 18
E.M. Alysse Bowd: Floating Pink Cloud M.N.V. (Krista Acheson): Baloney & Cheese May 1 – June 6
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June 2 – June 7
The PhotoEd GUIDE to Photography is a 128-page magazine-format learning and teaching resource. The GUIDE provides a quick start to basic tools & techniques, and ideas for new explorations.
Tammy Salzl: Broken Walls Garry McMillan: Extractions Edmonton and the Bauhaus Enterprise Square Gallery (off-site venue) University of Alberta Downtown Campus 10230 Jasper Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB
Presented for the Annual Conference of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC)
June 18 – July 11
Harcourt’s Annual Open House + 2020 The Works Art + Design Festival
Yielding to Form: Annual Harcourt House Members’ Exhibition + Art Sale Bowing to the Figure: Annual Naked Show + Art Sale July 24 – September 5
Jill Ho-You: Latent Monuments Deann Stein Hasinoff: Catching Smoke September 25 – October 3
2020 Design Week at Harcourt House + 2020 Alberta Culture Days
Beyond Surrealism: Posters Design by Rafal Olbinski Concept-Form-Metaphor: The Ceramic Art of Ruta Nichol October 16 – November 28
Tamires Para: 2020 Artist-In-Residence Exhibition Helis Podnek: From Nothing to All December 4 – December 12
2020 Art-O-Rama Art Sale Fundraiser
3rd floor, 10215 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB, CA T5K 1M7 780 426 4180 harcourtinfo@shaw.ca harcourthouse.ab.ca
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Our recommendations for more resources to further explore photography + healing
ONE PROJECT APP
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
FREE + paid
FREE + paid The NFB is an award-winning online resource featuring thousands of bilingual videos – from documentaries to animated films, from new releases to back catalogue favourites. We love their curated collection of content on topics about mental health, psychology, psychiatry, and emotional life. We also love their Educational Playlists feature for teachers, and that content can be streamed or played offline. The NFB app can be downloaded from the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, or from Google Play. nfb.ca
Described by many as one of the safest spaces online to discuss mental health, The One Project is an app and support group community with members around the world using therapeutic photography techniques to connect, learn, and support one another. Choose anonymity or feature your story publicly. This online community aims to reduce loneliness, build connection, and increase understanding about all aspects of mental health, while members grow together through shared insights. theoneproject.co
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CANADIANS Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 Kids Help Phone is a 24/7 national support service. They offer professional counselling, information, referrals, and support to young people in English and French. Find out more about their phone, text, live chat, and app options at: kidshelpphone.ca
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is
the most extensive community mental health organization in Canada. The CMHA website features extensive resources and help on a variety of topics, including children and youth anxiety and depression, coping with loneliness, depression and bipolar disorder, eating disorders, feeling angry, and much more. cmha.ca
In crisis? Call 1-833-456-4566 toll free (In QC: 1-866-277-3553), 24/7 or visit www.crisisservicescanada.ca
EFFORTLESS BEAUTY: PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN EXPRESSION OF EYE, MIND AND HEART by Julie DuBose $15.00 digital + $22.50 print Miksang is a form of contemplative photography that asks us to see our world in a new way. Effortless Beauty (available in print and digital formats) is a road map for taking a different kind of photograph, which might even lead to a different kind of living: direct living through direct seeing. Author and co-founder of the Miksang Institute Julie DuBose brings a new perspective to taking pictures. Julie explores not only how we express our experiences with our lenses, but also how we can find a fresh way of navigating our visual world together. www.miksang.com photo ED 11
LEFT: “Iftin” “ I try to be really quiet and stay in my own corner because I don’t want to get in trouble and because you have to think about your own safety at the end of the day. You don’t want to get involved with, like, anything that can get you hurt.” RIGHT: “Rainy” “ I met Rainy when I was volunteering at Operation Come Home. She is a compassionate young woman with a gift for writing. This photo was taken around the time she found out she was pregnant. Since this picture was taken Rainy has turned her life around. She left a toxic relationship, got off the streets, has an apartment and a job, and has a beautiful baby who she says saved her life. Her story is one of inspiration that there is a light on the other side of the darkness.”
Kat Fulwider YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY A cardboard sign is a form of communication people experiencing homelessness use with the general public. Often it is the only dialogue between these two demographics. Using art as a vehicle to break down walls of stigma, photographer Kat Fulwider challenges us to look at the human beyond the sign. “WHAT IS YOUR STORY? WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE?” Kat asked these questions to but a few of the 800 youth in Ottawa who don’t have a place to call home. Their answers were communicated in the form of visual artwork, words, and poetry: their emotional accounts of loss, survival, and resilience sketched on cardboard. On this simple material, Kat combined their statements with portraits she created through the cyanotype process.
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“Youth homelessness” refers to the experience of young people between the ages of 13 and 24 who are living independently of parents or caregivers and do not have the means or ability to acquire a stable, safe, or consistent residence. Kat shared with us how her Your Side of the Story project materialized: “I met each of these individuals when I began volunteering at Operation Come Home, a social services centre for at-risk and homeless youth. When I first began, I was looking to help fellow youth in my community through art. I was very naive about the challenges these youth face daily. I was not aware of the housing crisis Ottawa is currently facing or the extent of the opioid epidemic and its effects on our young population. I was oblivious to many things when I began this project, but most of all, I was unprepared for the beautiful and heartbreaking relationships that I would eventually form with these youth. I did not know of the magnitude of the front-line workers’ duties and their unrelenting efforts to create a better life for these young people. As there are many complex factors that lead to youth homelessness, the social workers, support workers, and volunteers of Operation Come Home and similar social service centres have an immeasurable undertaking before them. According to research by the Homeless Hub, some of the greatest factors contributing to youth homelessness are physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; involvement with the child welfare system; homophobia; discrimination; and poverty. Regardless of the events that led to this chapter in the people’s young lives, boundless strength and resilience is held within their pages. When you walk into the Operation Come Home Drop-In Centre, you immediately see memorial canvasses adorning the walls. Printed upon them are the faces of young people surrounded by handwritten notes of love, loss, and wishes for the youth to rest in peace. These are grim reminders of the dangerous realities these youth face every day. I see myself in these faces. I see a fractured reflection of my generation. My hope is that the people who participated in my project found solace in the expressions of their voices. Every situation is unique; some people knew exactly what they wanted to say and I became the conduit through which they shared their stories. Others were uncertain of how, or even if, they wanted to share their stories. Honouring each individual’s experience is the basis of this work.” The Your Side of the Story project includes expanded interviews, digital portraits, youth artwork, and poetry in the form of a book. “ Your Side of the Story, Chapter One” is now available for purchase on the Amazon Marketplace and at select locations in Ottawa. katfulwider.com/your-side-of-the-story IG: @ourhumanexp 14 photo ED
OPPOSITE PAGE: TOP LEFT: “Nikki” Nikki has struggled since childhood with a life of addiction and abuse. Still optimistic, she hopes community health service agencies take note of the needs of youth and young adults. What has turned her life in a positive direction? She states, “Realizing I have a purpose. I am here to be a good mother, and to help people. I hope to soon work as a social worker and drug counsellor. It helps to know someone who has been there, who has been through it.” TOP RIGHT: “Dakota” Dakota says, “If you are going to be on the streets, basically watch out for yourself. Do not, do not mess with anyone cuz you will get hurt, and basically choose your friends wisely because some of them aren’t really your friends. Some of them will stab you in the back.”
BOTTOM LEFT: “Chicken Little, [Cody] Murray” Cody says, “I find a lot more street people giving and caring than people who have nine-to- five jobs who make, like, six-figure incomes.” This project is dedicated to Cody. He was one of the kindest people I have ever met and I wish that I had had more time with him. We met on a cold January winter night during the “24 hours of homelessness” campaign through Operation Come Home.
We slept outside in ¯20 degree weather to raise awareness about youth homelessness in Ottawa. Like a ray of sunshine, Cody put a smile on everyone’s face. He regaled me with train-hopping and hitchhiking stories to warm my spirit. BOTTOM RIGHT: “Hannah” Many youth have different names. Some know her as “Molly,” many knew her as “Hannah.” I met her only a couple times. She was the very first participant in the project. Life on the streets is often characterized by constant movement and too many times we lose track of people. Kids slip through the cracks and the street becomes a basin to catch them.
“ HONOURING EACH INDIVIDUAL’S EXPERIENCE IS THE BASIS OF THIS WORK.”
Henry’s Foundation: Our Mission
Putting mental health into focus. 6.7 million. That’s how many Canadians are affected by mental illness, according to Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). That number means that every Canadian is impacted, either directly or indirectly, by mental illness: Either you, or someone you know, has a mental illness. That’s why Canadian digital imaging retailer Henry’s is proud to announce the launch of the Henry’s Foundation, a charitable endeavor specifically created to help support the millions of Canadians who live with a mental illness such as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.
Henry’s has been involved with charitable initiatives in the past, including the Henry’s Tournament for Health in support of the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital, LOVE (Leave Out Violence) using art and media to empower youth, and the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation’s Ride to Conquer Cancer. The Stein family created the Henry’s Foundation in late 2019 in an effort to build one focused charitable strategy surrounding the challenges of mental health in Canada.
improve the lives of Canadians living with mental illness and remind them that they are not alone. The Foundation is driven to achieve change, both externally, in the communities in which it operates, and internally, amongst Henry’s employees. “Mental health awareness is a cause that is very important for our employees and their family members as well,” says Amy Stein, Executive Director of Henry’s Foundation. “We want to help make a long-lasting impact in our local communities , across the country, in the area of mental health.”
The objective of the Henry’s Foundation is to help put mental health into focus by providing much needed funding to
Focus on Community Involvement
Because mental health and illness affects all Canadians, it has an impact on the communities in which Henry’s operates. The Henry’s Foundation is looking forward to working closely with Canada’s creator community to help raise awareness of the impact of mental illnesses on Canadians. “We really want our community — our employees, but also the creator community in Canada — to get involved,” Stein says. That’s why, as part of the Foundation’s official launch in March, it will be encouraging the community to upload and share photos that indicate what mental health means to them, using the hashtag #uncapturedmoments. Photos can be uploaded on henrysfoundation.com or shared via Instagram under The Henry’s Foundation (@thehenrysfoundation). The Foundation hopes that these #uncapturedmoments — those that capture the typically unseen parts of everyone’s lives — will help to show the
rest of the community, and all Canadians who are struggling with mental health issues, that they are not alone. It’s a great avenue for the creator community to express themselves through their art in ways they may not typically think about, Stein says. Photography is typically used to capture special moments or exceptional experiences, but by using the artform to reveal the everyday nature of life, Stein hopes the community will find new and different ways to express their creativity and emotions. In addition to the #uncapturedmoments campaign, the Henry’s Foundation will be raising money at point-of-sale in Henry’s stores when a customer makes a purchase, and will be offering in-store events with a focus on mental health and more. Internally, as the Foundation becomes interwoven with Henry’s culture, the barriers around mental health and illness will continue to break down as employees become more comfortable discussing their mental health.
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Framing the Mental Health Issues Facing Canadians
40%
of Ontarians say they have experienced feelings of anxiety or depression, but have not sought treatment
More and more high-profile cases of mental health have entered the public discourse, from former Toronto Raptors star DeMar DeRozan to comedian Howie Mandel to Youtuber Lily Singh. As a result, awareness of the impact of mental health has never been greater in Canada. In fact, a 2015 study suggested that 80% of Canadians were more aware of mental health issues than they were just five years earlier.
33%
of Canadians who have sought treatment for mental health issues feel their needs were not adequately met
And yet, a quick look at the statistics shows we have a long, long way to go before we: A) eliminate the stigmas associated with discussing mental health; B) treat mental illnesses as seriously and rigorously as we treat physical illnesses; and C) ensure Canadians struggling with mental health issues have the support they need.
Mental health care in Ontario is underfunded by about
$1.5 billion (Statistics courtesy of CAMH)
About Henry’s Foundation
The Henry’s Foundation was started in late 2019 by the Stein family, and will officially launch in March of 2020. The Stein family, fourth-generation owners of Henry’s, Canada’s Greatest Camera Store, are firm supporters of mental health initiatives in Canada and the Henry’s Foundation was created specifically to support Canadians who have mental health illnesses. Henry’s Foundation is committed to both operating with integrity, and ensuring that the highest possible percentage of each donation goes directly to its partners. As such, there are no employees, and the Foundation is operated with the commitment and resources of Henry’s and the Stein family.
In addition, the Henry’s Foundation is partnering with several institutions across Canada at both a national and local level, to help spread awareness. These include: • • • • • •
Kids Help Phone (National) Jack.org (National) Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) (Ontario) Douglas Mental Health University Institute Foundation (Quebec) Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia) VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation (British Columbia)
You can find more information about the Henry’s Foundation, and the #uncapturedmoments campaign on Instagram @thehenrysfoundation and henrysfoundation.com. Donations can be made at any Henry’s retail location or online at henrysfoundation.com.
Henrysfoundation.com
F O N D AT I O N F O U N D AT I O N
photography
DIPLOMA | 2 YEARS | 6 SEMESTERS
1 ST YEAR PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT LIAM ENDRESEN MODEL AURORE PELLETIER
“ TAKE YOUR BROKEN HEART, MAKE IT INTO ART.” — CARRIE FISHER
Karen Ruet, an educator at New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, shares her in-class experiences with students who were representing ideas of mental health. She asks, “How do you share your students’ stories respectfully while honouring their artwork and their privacy?”
I
t was the winter of 2016. My Representing Ideas class needed a topic for a short-term project. I didn’t set out to tackle mental health but the subject came up and more than one student agreed it was a good one to delve into.
I hadn’t realised at the time that so many of my students had such deeply personal experiences to express. I am not a mental health professional and my class was not meant to become a counselling session. We do have a full-time counsellor at our college and I was extremely grateful for her when we did this project because more than one student sought her out. Over the course of our classes, students sometimes left the room. When I asked for participants to share their work in this article, some backed out. Their topics still hit too close to home. One student told me her situation was ongoing and it was still
extremely difficult for her to discuss. It is one thing to make deeply personal art and show it in the safety of a classroom of your peers, but it can be something very different to talk about it publicly. The students who contributed their work for this article were brave to come forward. Their stories all influenced me in different ways for different reasons. In discussing this article, alumna Bailey Rogers shared a Carrie Fisher quote with me: “Take your broken heart, make it into art.” This quote resonated with me strongly, and so did Bailey’s story. In 2016, Bailey created a series of self-portraits to share her brother’s story. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Bailey had already been working with conceptual composite images and used this storytelling method for this project. She photo ED 19
researched the illness and coupled that information with her brother’s experience to visually express putting herself in his shoes. Bailey said that up until her brother’s diagnosis, she and her family had only ever read about schizophrenia or seen it portrayed in movies. She didn’t know anyone who had the illness and, if anyone she knew did have it, no one was talking about it. The Canadian Mental Health Association says that this is the norm and that there are many misconceptions about people diagnosed with this condition.
PREVIOUS PAGE: Bailey Rogers, 2016. Bailey created a series of self-portraits to share her brother’s story. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. ABOVE: Alexandrea Tarrant, 2016. Alexandrea’s visual interpretation of nightmare disorder. LEFT: Natasha Stephanie Hoskins, 2016. Natasha Stephanie relived the horrible feelings that occurred when she was being bullied.
The image Bailey created represents feelings of paranoia. For people suffering with schizophrenia, the feeling of someone watching them is very real and is often accompanied by strong hallucinations. They don’t feel safe. They feel vulnerable and alone in their experiences. Bailey also commented, “When we were given this assignment, half the class was somewhat confused and the other half a bit startled. Some students worked well with the idea that photographs could express feelings and emotions, and others couldn’t grasp the concept. How can I photograph an invisible illness? I think, after presenting the project, a lot of us had really grown from the assignment and we now had this connection with each other that we hadn’t had before.” “Schizophrenia isn’t my diagnosis,” said Bailey, “but mental illness not only affects the diagnosed person we love, but also the people around that person as well. We need to keep in mind that the most important thing we can do is to listen to our loved ones and to provide as much support as we can for them. This topic gave me the opportunity to educate myself on my brother’s illness and to share my own experience with my class. It was difficult, but I felt that it was important. You never know who else could be silently struggling, and could benefit from what you have to say.” Alexandrea Tarrant said that it didn’t take her long to pick a topic no one else would have thought to investigate. She took the opportunity to research a health issue known as nightmare disorder. Alexandrea does not suffer from this disorder but felt it was important to bring awareness to the subject. She, like Bailey, made self-portraits and chose to put herself in the position of the person suffering. “Nightmare disorder is not just about having bad dreams,
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it is about being plagued with nightmares so much during the night that you can’t sleep,” she shared. Another of my students, Natasha Stephanie Hoskins, explored her past experience of being bullied by recalling the names she had been called. The intensity of the harassment affected her life on every level, at home and at school. “As someone who has been bullied, it can be tough to continue to go to school. But what was worse for me was that it wasn’t just classmates bullying me in person, I was also cyberbullied. It was tough going to school and keeping a straight face as if they weren’t getting a rise out of me, but every night for roughly eight months I basically cried myself to sleep.” “This topic was difficult,” said Natasha Stephanie, “because I had to relive all the horrible feelings that occurred when I was being bullied and before I stood up for myself. I finally confronted the people who were bullying me in person and put a stop to the cyberbullying by talking to a cop. It was the hardest thing I ever did but it gave me my life back. That’s the story behind my images: how I survived being bullied.
Natasha Stephanie commented that the experience of being in a classroom full of other students all tackling different issues regarding mental health was educational. She said that hearing the stories and seeing the pictures that her classmates came across when researching and completing their assignments was unforgettable. A crucial component of great art is intimacy, and that can come from different sources. Personal experiences, when effectively conveyed, can create emotional connections in viewers that linger long after they stop looking at a work. These days more students are coming forward with illnesses such as depression, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). My hope is that this experience will make them not only more creative image-makers, but also more empathetic members of society who are less likely to stigmatize people who experience mental health challenges. Would I take on mental health again with a class? I don’t know, but I’m glad PhotoED Magazine is taking this topic on.
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THE ONE PROJECT
“ FOR PEOPLE STRUGGLING, GETTING STARTED ON A PATH TOWARDS HEALING CAN BE AS SIMPLE AS SHARING ONE PHOTO. ONE STORY.”
BY BRYCE EVANS
THE POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHY TO CHANGE THE CONVERSATION NEARLY 10 YEARS AGO, I discovered that practising photography allowed me to start talking about mental health when I couldn’t with words. I began taking photos with an intention, creating a series of images that communicated universal struggles of loneliness. As I looked to challenge wider stigma and silence around mental health issues, in the process, I found my own depression and anxiety came into focus.
After publishing the One series online in 2010, I quickly found that I was not the only person struggling to communicate my feelings and that others could benefit from using photography to help to start real conversations. I never guessed how far this idea would go. This was the beginning of The One Project. I saw a need for an online space where people could open up without the fear of judgement or the usual pressures of social media. So, I began working to build such a digital space. Soon an international community of people sharing their stories of therapeutic photography and facing their issues, including anxiety, depression, and postpartum depression, became a reality.
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ABOVE: Bryce Evans, “Lonely Surfer,” from the series One, Montreal, QC. “Globalization has enabled developed nations access to an incredible choice in careers, lifestyles, and activities. We live in a society where you can do anything, anywhere. We find activities that bring us joy in solitude, but fail to fill the void in our psyche that longs for companionship.”
RIGHT: Habiba, “The Mask,” Egypt. “Every day, I tried to paint a mask, every minute, every second, to hide my feelings. I didn’t want people to notice then ask how I was because my heart and tongue were heavy. I was afraid to talk, fearful that no one would understand me or that they would start comparing our problems. I was trying to fool myself, make myself feel better, and pretend everything is fine. It will pass. I kept telling myself, everything will be fine. I didn’t know how or when that would happen. I just hoped that something would happen.”
NOTE: Statements and stories from The One Project contributors have been shortened to accommodate our limited space in print.
Therapeutic photography involves taking, analyzing, and using photos for the purpose of personal healing, growth, and understanding, whether done consciously or unconsciously. By actively constructing, exploring, and reflecting on photographs, paired with writing creatively, it’s possible to learn more about yourself and how you see the world.
Please see members’ full statements and more featured stories from around the world in the PhotoED Magazine Spring/Summer 2020 DIGITAL edition, which will be live online May 1, 2020.
The One Project is a private community; however, registration is open to anyone. You can choose anonymity and keep your stories private within our community or, if you feel comfortable, you can make your stories public. Member access to the community is forever free to reduce barriers for those with financial challenges. We also offer paid subscriptions that include online courses and member opportunities, which help to sustain the project. Participating requires no photography skills or equipment. The community and the techniques members teach are open and accessible to all. The app is available for both iOS and Android. Milestones I’m particularly proud of achieving together as a community include growing to more than 500 members in over 50 countries through our private platform. In 2013, we partnered with LUSH stores on an anti-bullying campaign across 200 retail locations in North America and in the Middle East. Thousands of people took part in interactive art installations on store windows and shared their stories around bullying. In 2016 we were featured in a short documentary by VICE, and last year, the work of The One Project members was exhibited at Sunway University in Malaysia. We’re excited about developing more partnerships and opportunities for our members to expand our impact around the world. By opening up and connecting with people who have lived experience, I believe that we can help to reduce stigma, to gain a better understanding of these issues, and to support one another. As a community, we’re now aiming to build a library of stories and resources to further inspire, support, and empower more people, and to provide unique opportunities through published articles such as this, as well as exhibitions, campaigns, videos, and more. This encourages members to share and to see the impact that their stories can have on others. Many of the stories that you’ll find within The One Project are being told for the first time. For some members it’s their first time talking about their mental health and many have mentioned it’s the first time they have felt comfortable enough to begin. For me, this just shows the need and importance of spaces like our community and I hope that more are built so we can end the silence and isolation felt by far too many people. For people struggling, getting started on a path towards healing can be as simple as sharing one photo. One story. The impact can ripple out into something much bigger than you’d ever expect. I hope you will share your story with us soon.
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ABOVE: Andrew Penner Steinbach, MB.
“ Contrast. Shadows. Highlights.Perspective. All are very important aspects to consider when putting a frame around what you see. All play a critical role. But what if I’m not talking about photography? What if I’m talking about therapy?”
ABOVE: Vicki (last name withheld) “The Tunnel, Pt 3” United Kingdom.
“ This image was created in the middle of a crisis that stopped me from being who I am. The power of therapeutic photography helped me to visually express what I could not say.”
ABOVE: Brandon (last name withheld) Vancouver, BC. “ I recently changed my profile picture and while this might seem like just your average selfie, for me, the person in this photo is closer to being his ‘best’ self than any other previous photo of him. Why? For the first time in my life, it’s a reflection of me at my closest to my best self. Now suddenly, I find gratitude and joy in my heart.”
ABOVE: Tiyani (last name withheld) “ Endless Privilege,” Sri Lanka.
“ I captured this image at a lake on a mountaintop near Sembuwatha. Photography helps me to be present and to notice and narrow everything
into one frame. Observing childhood innocence without life’s complications, I felt privileged to be there.”
SHIRA GOLD:
FINDING HER BREATH Drawing on deeply personal and emotional experiences, Shira Gold’s photographs demonstrate grief, loss, identity, and change. BY PEPPA MARTIN
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ellness experts around the world increasingly recognize the indisputable health benefits of spending personal time with art, to the extent of even prescribing museum visits to combat illness. A comprehensive 19-year study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that art has positive overall effects for mental and physical health at all stages of life. If interacting with art, even merely as an observer, has therapeutic power, what happens when an artist takes up an active practice with a conscious search for solace, healing, and equilibrium? Vancouver photographer Shira Gold discovered this important intersection of photography, mental health, and well-being during a time of personal crisis. These crucial connections would ultimately guide her healing through loss and grief. Born and raised in Vancouver, Shira spent several teenage years learning photography at Arts 28 photo ED
Umbrella, a local non-profit centre for youth arts education. It was something of an antidote to an ongoing struggle in high school where she fought hard to meet academic expectations and defy negative and discouraging early childhood messages. With her self-esteem in a fragile state as a result of these messages from teachers who didn’t see her potential, her lack of confidence could have been crippling if not for her camera. Photography offered Shira a sliver of control over something concrete and became a tool to interact with the world and express her point of view in a positive way. That involved acknowledging and purposefully connecting with feelings of discomfort and intentionally deconstructing experiences that felt overwhelming. “It’s the only time in my life when my mind and my heart feel aligned,” she said. Repetitive motion is a widely accepted behavioural therapy technique for lowering ones heart rate
PREVIOUS PAGE: “State of Play,” from the series The Fine Art of Letting Go. ABOVE: “Release Me,” from the series On a Wing. “The process of creating this series led me to the realization that while we may not be in control of what life throws our way, we do choose how we view and engage with strife. I choose to find beauty in the breakdown. I trust the wind, and go with wings.” RIGHT: “Exhale,” from the series Shock, a visual articulation of a grief journey.
WHAT SHIRA DISCOVERED TO BE GENUINELY THERAPEUTIC WAS THE SIMPLE, REPETITIVE ACT OF MAKING IMAGES, REGARDLESS OF THE SUBJECT, THE TIME AVAILABLE, OR THE END RESULT. THROUGH THIS PROCESS SHE LEARNED TO VISUALLY DIARIZE WHAT SHE COULDN’T ARTICULATE.
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“I THINK THAT WHEN WE TAP INTO OUR VULNERABILITY AND CHANNEL IT IN OUR ART, WE ARE BEING AUTHENTIC. THAT HELPS US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND OURSELVES, AND TO FIND BALANCE AND BEAUTY IN LIFE.”
and blood pressure and for calming an overactive mind. On the advice of health professionals, Shira tried, among other things, running, knitting, and deep breathing exercises to achieve these goals. Results were less than satisfying and not especially effective in slowing her racing thoughts.
LEFT: “Underneath It All,” from the series The Fine Art of Letting Go. ABOVE: “Past Reflection,” from the series Vulnerability. During difficult moments, nature provided Shira with understanding and an opportunity to express feelings she struggled to identify.
Then came an implosion. In 2001, when Shira’s mother Melaine became seriously ill, Shira made the pivotal decision to become her primary caregiver. Mired in grief after losing Melanie in 2003, Shira desperately sought a healing mechanism to relieve the searing pain of mourning. Photography, again, came to her rescue, providing the urgent support needed to navigate this difficult period. Picking up her camera again, she says, “was like finding my breath.” What Shira discovered to be genuinely therapeutic was the simple, repetitive act of making images, regardless of the subject, the time available, or the end result. Through this process she learned to visually diarize what she couldn’t articulate. “It was visual therapy,” she said. Diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 35, her camera became a tool for harnessing her distracted thinking and, along with summoning mental focus, making photographs allowed her to slow down and be, as she describes, “fully in the moment.”
Shira describes the bewildering period from becoming her ailing mother’s primary caregiver, to experiencing Melanie’s death and being bereaved, to authoring and self-publishing a guidebook (titled Choosing Joy’s Empowerment Index), to becoming a mother: “It was like all the space in life between struggles and triumphs compressed and there wasn’t room to process what I had been through.” Good Grief is a series of landscape images that serve as a visual dissertation of Shira’s movement through loss. This series earned her an Honourable Mention in the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, a nomination to the Fine Art Photography Awards, a semi-finalist spot in the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, and also a finalist position in the LensCulture Art Photography Awards. Shira says, “If sharing my stories makes others feel less alone in their life circumstances, then maybe that’s the most important thing I do. My work has always been driven by my life and all the crazy, wonderful, painful experiences. As one who lives my days with a busy mind, there are few things that create pause and reflection. I think that when we tap into our vulnerability and channel it in our art, we are being authentic. That helps us to better understand ourselves, and to find balance and beauty in life.” www.shiragold.com photo ED 31
TORONTO MAY 2020
Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, X6, 2019. Courtesy of the artist.
Each April, photography and lens-based art is exhibited at dozens of galleries and other venues throughout Metro Vancouver as part of the Exhibition Program, alongside an extensive Public Art Program, a youth-oriented Learning Program, and an Events Program that spans tours, films, artist talks, and community events. Launched in 2013, the annual not-for-profit Capture Photography Festival is Western Canada’s largest lens-based art festival. Image: Christopher Lacroix, Hold tight, I have a story (I am sorry), 2019, archival inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist. You can find Christopher’s Lacroix’s installation at Broadway–City Hall Canada Line Station
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RICK MILLER’S HOMECOMING “ No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” — Heraclitus BY KERRY MANDERS
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“I’M A CRAZY PERSON,” Rick Miller laughs, adding, “I’m allowed to say that, but you probably shouldn’t.” It was as a Mad Artist that Rick applied for — and won — Ontario Arts Council funding for his autobiographical series Ancestral Mindscapes. A collaboration with photographer Geneviève Thibault and documentary filmmaker Jules Koostachin, Ancestral Mindscapes explores “the intersection of madness, Indigeneity, colonialism, environmental destruction, and the healing power of nature.”
According to the Canada Council, Mad Art is “framed as a social and political identity by people who have been labelled as mentally ill or as having mental health issues.” Mad Art focuses not on awareness campaigns or coping with stigma, but on storytelling, meaning-making, and community-building practices. Rick’s “crazy creativity” is not curative but is a means of his survival. His work is definitively not “art therapy.” He does not do art as therapy. He’s an artist first and foremost, and he embraces the fact that his art practice has therapeutic side effects. Rick has lived with mental illness all his adult life. He was a professional editor in the television industry before he lost his livelihood, and eventually his home, to the LEFT: Geneviève Thibault, “A River Runs Through It,” La Chute on the York River, QC, 2018. “The York River flows, literally and figuratively, through my childhood. Eight generations of my family lived and worked in its watershed. Floating in the water, I felt truly immersed in the landscape.” ABOVE: Geneviève Thibault, “Childhood Revisited 3,” Sunny Bank, Gaspé, QC, 2018. “This room provided insufficient refuge from my suicidal ideation. What had been an idyllic childhood location lost its sense of safety as my teenage depression spiralled downwards.” RIGHT: Geneviève Thibault, “Childhood Revisited 1 (Dyslexia),” Murdochville, QC, 2018. “My childhood home, next to the mine my family worked at. While Asperger’s made friendships difficult, dyslexia made communication impossible at times. I didn’t speak intelligibly until I was in elementary school.” photo ED 35
Rick Miller, “I Am Haunted By Waters,” La Chute on the York River, QC, 2018. “ My grandfather and great-grandfather worked as fishing guides on this river. I could feel my ancestral heritage flow through me as I stood by the water.”
repetitive cycle of his depression. After a period of hospitalization, Rick rebuilt his life — again. He secured co-op housing and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Ryerson University.
Geneviève Thibault, “Miller Mementos,” Sunny Bank, Gaspé, QC, 2018. “ This hints at a century of my family’s mementos. My grandparents raised eight children in their farmhouse. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren left behind treasures with every visit.”
Rick also found Workman Arts. Established in 1987 by psychiatric nurse Lisa Brown, Workman Arts is Canada’s longest-running multidisciplinary arts and mental health organization. A theatre company of eight members at its inception, Workman Arts now comprises nearly 500 members. Rick started off as a filmmaking student there and was soon teaching photography classes of his own and working as media artist-in-residence. Rick finally fit in. “Mad Artists flourish best in community, where we can maintain and sustain each other,” he says. Rick credits his fellow Mad Artists with giving him “the courage to pursue my dreams” and a place he can “call home.” Finding a new home allowed Rick to confront his old one. At its core, Ancestral Mindscapes is a return to the home where he was a depressed — often suicidal — kid. Rick hadn’t been home in roughly 20 years; then, in 2014, his siblings asked him to accompany his increasingly ailing, elderly parents to Gaspé, Quebec, for a month-long visit. Ancestral Mindscapes was born with and from this familial journey. Despite the temporal and geographical distances, Rick discovered that he and Gaspé are inextricably connected.
Geneviève Thibault, “Miller Farmhouse At Night,” Sunny Bank, Gaspé, QC, 2018. “ My Grandparents’ farmhouse, which has stood in isolation for over a hundred years. Now virtually abandoned, my memories of this place, both good and bad, continue to haunt me.”
Rick, Geneviève, and Jules literalize longing and belonging by inserting and photographing Rick in his old haunts: the old houses and schools, the waterways, and the landscapes of his youth. Far from simple nostalgia, this photographic return is rife with pain and sadness. Various portraits are
titled “Childhood Revisited,” but each attaches a parenthetically powerful rejoinder: dyslexia, pareidolia, teenage depression, social isolation, suicidal ideation. Revisiting physical locations entails revisiting mental states — the titular mindscapes — and rendering visible Rick’s “invisible disabilities.” The notion of “rendering visible” resonates in multiple directions. Rick describes Jules as a Cree artist and seer, saying, “She was our big-picture person, attentive to overarching themes and issues of representation. She has an Indigenous understanding of mental health as opposed to a Western-medical approach.” Jules offered Rick the gift of her (in)sight as he looked for and at his ancestry. Rick says, “As Jules taught me, it’s possible to see mental illness as a spiritual affliction beyond the physical.” Jules saw the spirit of Rick’s paternal grandmother, Louisa, trapped within her old home (“Miller Farmhouse at Night”). Louisa died before Rick was born, but Jules believes her spirit attached to Rick when he was a teen and manifested as his depression. The challenge now is to help Louisa leave the house in which she’s trapped and, in turn, to let go of Rick. To those who feel that such an explanation stretches the limits of believability, Rick says, “Well, sure. And our co-creator [Geneviève] was thoroughly skeptical, too. Until one week into the project. Then she was fully on board with our unexpected discoveries.” Rick asserts that Jules’s alternative explanation of his mental illness is “as accurate a diagnosis as I’ve ever received.” He doesn’t concern himself with whether his “ghost story” is implausible or unpalatable to others: it’s a story that he can tell himself about his
Rendezvous with Madness Festival OctOber 15-25, 2020 Call for film/Video SubmiSSionS now open deadline: may 1, 2020 no feeS To SubmiT | arTiST feeS paid
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“self” and why he lives with mental illness. It offers him a new path of understanding and acceptance, and his depression is “less random, less pointless, less debilitating.” Crucially, this “narrative medicine” means Rick feels less lost than found. Rick’s homecoming inspired a series of interrelated questions: “Who was I? Who am I now? How does my past inform my present? How do others see me?” Rick’s exploration of his personal history and identity (he’s a cis, het, white, Mad man who is also part Métis) inspired larger — and equally fraught — questions about the history and identity of place, particularly about the legacies of his settler colonial heritage. Ancestral Mindscapes includes Geneviève’s intimate portraits of Rick’s return and panoramic landscapes that literally and figuratively broaden the context. Rick is a subject in time and place; he’s also subject to history and geography. Returning to grapple with (his) ghosts changed Rick’s fraught relationship to “home.” Originally resistant to wading in the water for “A River Runs Through It,” Rick accepted his collaborators’ challenge and now describes this immersion as radically transformative. As “a chubby, bald man” and a photographer, Rick found himself less comfortable in front of the lens than behind it. Letting go of such inhibitions, Rick ended up feeling more “at peace, more connected, and more grounded than ever before.” Paradoxically, letting go was a profound way of hanging on. Home always beckons to Rick: “I wish I was back there. I’m going to go back there.” Ancestral Mindscapes is Rick’s record and his promise of return.
SARA HARLEY STROKE OF EMOTIONS Sometimes I cry so hard I think the tears will never stop. Sometimes I feel so tired I want to lay my head down and sleep forever. Sometimes I feel absolutely nothing and wonder if I will ever feel happy again. I WROTE THOSE words in a notebook when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and vulnerable. My husband had a major stroke in 2017 and his health crisis became my health story as well. He had huge physical challenges to overcome, and as his life partner and sole caregiver, I experienced a roller coaster of emotions throughout his months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. During those terrible weeks that followed the stroke, I needed an outlet to deal with my feelings.
The images I created portrayed the stages of emotional healing, from tragedy through restoration. Like many devastating challenges in life, dealing with brain injury is a hard road. It’s a pilgrimage, sometimes rewarding, and often difficult. I learned the term “ambiguous loss.” After a brain injury, a 38 photo ED
loved one is physically present, yet transformed in countless, often subtle ways that totally change the essence of the person. That is a difficult thing to deal with and I have had times of terrible grief and feelings of complete helplessness, combined with a sense of guilt that I should be a better person. There have been moments when my sadness has been so great that it became physical, squeezing my heart and stealing my breath. I have had periods of self-doubt so overwhelming that I didn’t think I could cope with the future. I didn’t think I would have the patience or ability to do what I needed to do, or be who I needed to be. Through it all, I have used photography to help me cope. The possibilities and photo opportunities are endless, even for a person like me whose only photographic excursion was a daily dog walk.
I REACH FOR THE LIGHT BUT THE STARS HAVE FALLEN AND LAY SUBMERGED GLITTERING THEIR PROMISE LIKE DIAMONDS BENEATH THE SEA
LEFT PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: “Isolation,” From the Stroke of Emotions series.
“Release,” From the Roots + Wings series.
“Messenger,” From the Roots + Wings series.
“Anger,” From the Stroke of Emotions series.
“Overwhelm,” From the Stroke of Emotions series.
“Strength,” From the Roots + Wings series.
ABOVE: “I Had A Dream,” From the Differentiation series.
SARAHARLEY.COM IG: @SARAHARLEY.PHOTOS
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MEGAN CONLEY: VULNERABLE EXPRESSIONS BY ALI PENKO
“My mouth, chin, gums, and jaw now have 25 plates and screws that will keep everything intact for the rest of my life.” CALGARY-BASED ARTIST Megan Conley feels compelled to make work that explores issues of self-identity, born from her experiences of dealing with facial and dental deformity and the correction process that lasted over 10 years.
Initially a painting major at Alberta University of the Arts, Megan turned to photography and video after she became frustrated with the slow process of painting, as she was unable to work as fast as her ideas formed. She says, “My painting instructor at the time encouraged me to switch to photography and video in order to quickly edit and re-evaluate my therapeutic art practice.” Megan states, “Photography has allowed me to create abstract works from experimental processes that may not have worked otherwise.” For example, she describes how a photo of herself, placed outside of a jar of water, and then re-photographed, “allowed me to speak to feeling like I was drowning at the time, feeling confused about my appearance and the inability to move forward with my new identity.” Masks play a prominent role in many of Megan’s projects. Regarding her series Alien, she says, “I was interested in re-performing traumatic experiences using masks, layered makeup, and costumes, and turning myself into a grotesque,
physically less desirable version of myself.” Megan created a series of video performances, took screenshots of them, and then layered them together. Megan’s mask works and manipulated selfportraits continued as she worked towards a Master’s Degree at the University of Buffalo. She says, “This was a study of topography and a continuation of masking. I always felt like I have lived the life of two separate people, one physically less desirable prior to the reconstructive facial and dental surgery, which is why I consider my skin a mask that I wear every day.” Megan continued the theme of exploring trauma and healing while participating in an artist residence at a middle school in Alberta. She states, “Working with youth has encouraged me to re-examine my practice and be more receptive to trauma that is not my own.” Working with the students, Megan created a portrait installation by having them recall an emotionally traumatic experience and by creating 3D scans of their expressions. The scans were then printed as objects and displayed throughout the school. Of the experience, she recalls, “There were many positive outcomes, but the main one was the ongoing conversation about the effect trauma can have on mental health.” photo ED 41
She has continued to develop her series Trauma 1, 2, 3 with other groups across Canada. During her 2017 residency at Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island, she used a similar scenario, creating 3D scans of fellow artists in poses relating to memories of past trauma without revealing their context. Megan says, “I selectively altered and manipulated portions of the figure and face to emphasize aspects of their possible physical or emotional trauma.” The most recent continuation of this series involves collaboration in Calgary with DJD Dance Centre dancers. She says this project 42 photo ED
examines “the face and body as a site of vulnerable expression through movement and physical touch, while ultimately starting a conversation about individual struggle and mental health, but also collective healing.”
PREVIOUS PAGE: “ Sinking,” 2016.
Of the future, Megan says, “As I continue to work on my own Trauma series, I want people to relate more, talk about their own trauma, and start a conversation on mental health. Everyone has their own individual story, but collective healing holds real power.”
LEFT: “ Skull and Face 3,” 2019.
meganpatriciaconley.wordpress.com
TOP: “ Untitled,” from the Alien 1,2,3, series, 2011.
RIGHT: “ Collective Healing,” 2019.
In need of a breather? If you’ve been looking for a low-pressure way to browse budget analog camera equipment and general photographic history, consider dropping into the May 31 Spring Camera Fair at Trident Hall in Etobicoke. You’ll explore tables of unusual and familiar fare, chat with indie vendors and come away with colossal bargains. Think of it as a break with benefits. Check the PHSC newsletter for details.
www.phsc.ca
JENS KRISTIAN BALLE Vancouver, BC THUMB “An illustration of our relationship with social media and how it’s mostly a facade we put on where we pretend everything is perfect, even though it’s probably not.” www.jenskristianballe.com
THE
GALLERY SUBMISSIONS BY OUR READERS
LORA MOORE-KAKALETRIS Oakville, ON MY SECRET “ At the age of twelve, I walked into the garage to find my mother’s lifeless body sitting in the driver’s seat of her car with the engine on and doors closed tight. My secret is a very personal and retrospective series documenting the emotional roller coaster one goes through after losing a parent to suicide.” IG: @loramoore_images www.mooreimages.ca
JOSH MEEK Oakville, ON
PILLS PILLS is an exploration into the idealization and abuse of prescription drugs. IG:@meek.jpeg
LIZA POZ Toronto, ON
“ When these photos were taken I was struggling with a severe panic disorder. There were months when I couldn’t even leave the house and that led me to become isolated and hopeless. Photography, in a way gave me a new light in life. It is a way for me to escape and to let my ideas and thoughts flow into an image. Taking a photo and being able to tell a story through it, is what motivates me everyday to keep battling my challenges” IG: @lizaxpoz
LINDA BRISKIN Toronto, ON
FRACTURED “ Fractured highlights the struggle to remainwhole in the face of climate anxiety, political precariousness and increasing uncertainty. Fractured, we feel ourselves fading and melting and vanishing. I am fractured. I am fracturing. We are all fractured. The world is fracturing These five ‘self portraits’ were taken in the mirrored elevator at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The camera helped to reveal fractured reality.” www.lindabriskinphotography.com
MITCHELL BROWN Grimsby, ON
“ I live with persistent depressive disorder and anxiety distress. This is a personal project of images and words I wrote while I was in a very low part of depression.” IG: @mitchellbrownphotographer www.mitchellbrown.ca
NATE HUSKA London, ON
ROMANTICIZING THE WRONG THINGS “ S ometimes you catch yourself romanticizing things you should’t be; past relationships, drugs, anything unhealthy really. We may even be aware and acknowledge that this is unhealthy, but we cannot always control how we feel.” IG: @whyromanticize
MAÍRA A. RIBEIRO Toronto, ON
“ These images are from the rehearsal for ‘The Queen and Her Inner Battles’, a flashmob presented by Art Starts and curated by Jacquie Comrie Garrido during Nuit Blanche, 2019. According to Jacqui, “Colour is the universal language of emotions and a tool powerful enough to repair not only spaces but minds. Colour is light and energy, an electric current to the human brain, proven to possess healing properties and the ability to change our thoughts, behaviour and the way we feel for the better.” IG: @mairaribeirophotography
NICHOLAS WOJTAS Ottawa, ON ANXIETY “ This body of work is an exploration and a journey of discovery of the sources of my anxieties. Through this series, I explore imperfection. Our imperfections – our strengths and weaknesses - make us unique. Anxiety doesn’t make us any different from anyone else – it makes us the same as everyone else. At different times in our lives - this negative feeling can
be crippling to all of us. Anxiety Disorder do not make us weak. We are strong and endure. I encourage you to all face your fears, to not let an Anxiety Disorder get in the way of living your life. Anxiety affects us all in varying degrees.” IG: @nicholaswojtasphotographs
SJ KIM
Toronto, ON “I had to be cool. I had to be good. I had to be beautiful. I wanted to be a flower. I tried a lot. I didn’t know that I am a flower already. I bloomed already.” IG: @sj_k1m_xy
CLIVE BRANSON & RICHARD DEMARAIS Ottawa, ON
TROUBLED MINDS “ Troubled Minds is a collaborative project generating attention towards mental health. Instead of conveying a message about mental health through the activities of a celebrity, we depicted how the public perceive victims of such disorders (i.e. Depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia and other psychoses, and dementia) to create a more poignant account to how society views the maligned. Clive initiated this project after looking after his father, who for 12 years suffered from dementia and alzheimers.”
MARTINE MARIE-ANNE CHARTRAND Aylmer, QC
RECONSTRUIRE SERIES “In 2002, I was experiencing the best time of my life, creating, an involved artist with a lot of drive, a young adult in love in her graduating year. One night, on my way back home from an art event, all of this quickly changed in a matter of minutes. I suddenly became the victim of a violent crime. I was stalked and struck by a stranger with a shovel. This left me with severe head injuries held by 64 sutures to my head, a concussion, contusion, bruising and a serious brush with my own mortality. But the hardest thing for me to overcome was not the damage done to my body, but to my mental health. This event changed my life and my perspective on many things. What saved me was art. My art was what made me come out of this as a victor and not a victim. I did this by documenting my everyday surroundings by taking snapshots of my recovery inside my apartement. Then with these I chose to construct photo montages of how I felt, I expressed myself with my camera lens. This is something I firmly believe in, is that art can truly be a healing tool. In order to get myself better in my mental health, I express myself visually; it is my natural way of surviving and healing. My current body of work is about anxiety and depression. I gave a speech at a restorative justice conference and at the victim commemoration ceremony about my experiences. I also shared my art of healing to all those who were attending. The most important message I gave in my speech was that you are not alone when you are a victim, you do not have to walk alone. This is what I try to share with my hardship, my art that you might feel alone but many struggle with the same mental health challenges. With my art I hope to encourage people to go out and share by talking and making art. As a society we still need to break the barriers of mental health taboos.” martinemarieannechartrand.myportfolio.com
OLIVIA GRAHAM Toronto, ON
PERCEPTIONS “ A s I travel through life, images help me examine and express my identity. The following images explore the feeling that I am constantly playing a character in an attempt to please all the different people in my life. Where I can let my guard down, however, is with my family, as they provide a constant box of safety and security for me to truly be myself.” IG: @oliviagrahamphotography
ALEX FRANKLIN Langton, ON
TEENAGE MEMORIES “ For the majority of my life I have dealt with major depression and anxiety. It has been a battle. When I was in my teenage years I knew something was wrong, and I didn’t feel right. I knew what I was feeling was not normal, but my family did not take it seriously at the time. My mental health still runs my life a lot of the time, but I have more control over my thinking because of my medication. Teenage Memories is an expression of my memories during some of my hardest times. In these images you can see how I was feeling about myself - through self-harm, eating disorders, etc. These images are what I see in my dreams.” IG: @alexfranklinphotos
AMY STEWART & CHAVAH LINDSAY Grand Bay - Westfield, NB “We are moms and wives and daughters and sisters. We are art school graduates. We are business owners. We are collaborative entrepreneurs. We are photographers and designers, seamstresses and photoshoppers, teachers, lovers. We strive to make quality work, beautiful things for people to own, to look at, to be. But first, before, we were artists. Making art for the sake of our sanity, from a drive deep within that couldn’t be explained. We are empowered women who can be fearless and brave. Who can make gritty, soul baring works and not be polite enough to keep them to ourselves (even when there are kids with water wings swimming through your photoshoot and you have worked three jobs in one day and are trying to make time for a moment with your family, let alone your skin care, but you’ve just received another client email and the gnawing in your stomach won’t let you sleep until you respond). Chavah and Amy have been creatively collaborating since 2014. These images are created through the process of photographing with water and light. We are proud to be supporters of the women in our lives. We are thankful for our cheerleaders keeping us going from the sidelines.” IG: @amystewartphoto
KC PARLEE
Frederiction, NB
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS “I wanted to evoke relatable emotions in viewers with these images. The importance of mental health is slowly becoming an open topic of discussion - but still has a huge social stigma. Mental illness can’t be sugarcoated; it is often concealed, which can make it difficult for people to discuss their issues. If this series of images even makes one person feel less lonely, I’ve done my job as an artist.” IG: @kcparlee
SHAYNA JOSÉE Oshawa, ON
“ I found sanctuary in nature and capturing the beauty our world has to offer. It became a free therapy where instead of speaking to a doctor about my place in the world, my place in the world spoke to me. My mental health is a struggle every single day. I had terrible days and great days equally. I still medicate and I avoid high profile events. I still have days where I can’t get out of bed. But any day that I pick up my camera is a good day.” IG: @shaynajoseecreatives
HADI ASGARI Saskatoon, SK
“ After moving to Canada to start a new life, Hadi has thought a lot about immigration and the baggage that it carries. Culture shock includes changes in daily life, environment, and a battle against depression. Hadi reflects on feelings of a loss of identity by photographing his new Saskatoon surroundings without people.” IG: @hadiasgariphoto
ALEXANDRA COTE-DURRER Saint-Adele, QC Alexandra lives with multiple mental health illnesses and uses the power of nature and photography to express her feelings. IG: @alexcdphotography
SONIA BLAYDE Toronto, ON THE MASK “ At some point in our lives, we’ve played a role of living by other peoples standards.We wear a mask to hide behind our own anxiety, fears and struggles within our own existence. Often feeling stuck and trapped, we fight to break free.” www.soniablayde.com
AJ SALTER Kelowna, BC BORDERS “ This project on borders explores a conceptual approach to picturing mental illness. The formal elements of the project involve a long panorama style photo that is stretched out but also compressed in the same way. This was to show how someone might feel sitting in a classroom. Time and space can feel weird for someone with ADHD, simultaneously feeling longer and drawn out as well as being pressed for time.
Autumn is a beautiful time in Canada with lots of gorgeous colors and yet for students, especially those who struggle with mental illness, it is a very troubling time and the beautiful views can blend together or be clouded over entirely. While sitting in a classroom it is common for people’s minds to wander or daydream, however, if you have ADHD it can be almost impossible to hold focus for the duration of the class which can negatively impact performance.
The edges of the classroom fade away and become warped to portray how someone could slip out of focus easily. Academic environments can be very alienating to someone who struggles with ADHD especially if they require more hands-on experiences to actually learn or hold their attention.” IG: @mintblueocean
JARED EAGLES Fredericton, NB SUNFLOWER IG: @jaredeagles
VICTORIA DOUDOUMIS Mississauga, ON TAKE 1 This piece was created as part of a series for Victoria’s first exhibition, DocuMental. The show shed a light on her mental health and the obstacles she continued to face daily. Victoria used to feel a sense of shame when it came to taking medication for her anxiety and depression, but by showcasing this photo in a public setting, she was able to end her own stigma with pride.
ANNA WILSON Stouffville, ON
TOP: BEAUTY IN THE BREAKDOWN “ B eauty in the Breakdown, documents mental struggle related to overcoming burnout and anxiety. These are documents of my journey towards emotional well-being through photographic art practice. The images are metaphorical self-portraits representing mental states while finding stillness, beauty, and rest.” LEFT: STILL “ This series was taken while dealing with my feelings around a miscarriage. ‘Numb’ (far left), references my mental state while capturing this image. The poetic titles in these series, as well as the corresponding visuals are representations of the complex emotions involved in grief and mental struggle. This mindful art practice continues to support my mental health and is a form of art therapy. I hope that my peaceful images can be like a breath of fresh air and serve as a subtle call to action, inviting the viewer to pause, reflect, and connect with their surroundings ... to find creative rest and lead to healing in their own challenges.” IG: @annawilsoncreative Twitter: @awilsoncreative
MELISSA RICHARD Fort McMurarry, AB
“ Photography has really helped me through a lot of ups and downs. It has been a creative outlet for me, not just a means to document my family.” IG: @melissarichard4
ARIANNE TUBMAN Kelowna, BC
DO YOU SEE ME? “ Do You See Me?, is a series about mental health and the relationship between professors and students in large academic settings. When struggling with mental health, people tend to try to keep their struggles private. However, as students, we are expected to still show up for class and participate, regardless of any negative mindset we may be experiencing. In smaller classes, professors are more in tune with their students and are more likely to realize when someone is in distress. However in large classrooms, where a student may only be one face in a crowd of hundreds, how likely is it that a professor could notice someone having a breakdown? How likely are they to try and reach out to that student? “ For this piece, I documented a model in a few of the 200+ seat lecture halls on my campus, from the perspective of each room’s lectern. I then printed the image to create a life-sized model and inserted it into the lecture halls. From the viewpoint of the lectern, my photo-object creates the illusion of a student crying. My piece works to bring attention to issues surrounding mental well-being, and reduce the disconnect between professors and students.” IG: @ari_tubbs
CATHERINE COMTOIS Montreal, QC PSYKHE “ Mind’s X-Ray (healing of the soul).” Shot with triple exposure on a 35mm color photo FUJIFILM 400. IG: @cheekatoo
HANNAH WITTS Toronto, ON
PINS AND NEEDLES “ Depression is something that my family, friends, and I have struggled with. I created images that demonstrate the symptoms associated with depression such as feeling disconnected, having foggy thoughts, as well as the physical pain you sometimes wish to inflict on yourself. People struggle with mental health issues internally; however, my images speak to the way the effects of these struggles can show externally, even when we don’t want them to. I worked under the theme of “Pins and Needles”. This title evokes thoughts of sharp pinches of pain as well as the common name for when a part of your body goes numb. This speaks to the duality of the pain felt by those struggling depression. Pins and needles were used throughout my process, for example the black square stamps were made from out an imprint of small needles.” IG: @hannahwitts_
BARBARA BROWN Ottawa, ON
“ G rief is a fact of life. Grief is a part of living a full life, the part when you have to say goodbye to those you love. Barbara Brown collaborated with ceramic artist Cynthia O’Brien over a year as they shared time as staff working in a long term care facility with the frail elderly. In focusing on the burden of grief they both carry from their professional and personal lives they came to a new way of appreciating and valuing their experience and in the process produced a powerful exhibition that
resonated deeply with the community. One of the pieces they created was “Columbarium: A Consequence of Life”, which offered a place for visitors to the exhibition to leave a memorial note for/to those who had died. In our contemporary culture we have few occasions or opportunities to remember those loved ones who have gone before us. The exhibition LifeCycle Conversations provided a venue and occasion for those memories to be honoured.”
IG: @bbrownarti www.barbarabro
IG: @cynbobin www.cynthiaobrien
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SARA BAKKER Fredericton, NB
“I created this self portrait during a particularly difficult period of my life. I was just getting back to work after maternity leave, suffering from (at the time) undiagnosed postpartum anxiety and depression, and was starting to realize that my marriage was ending. I felt desperately alone, completely overwhelmed, and terrified. This image was the first step to admitting to myself and publicly that everything was not ok. It acted as a turning point in my mental health and as a reminder to have far I have come since its creation.” IG: @sarajean.photo
HOLLY NOËL Fredericton, NB
“ This piece is about the difficulty of dealing with mental illness and it’s comorbid tag-alongs. Often mental illness stems from and creates other disorders, leading to exhausting and difficult days. Often, it may not appear as though someone is fighting battles inside their head. This exhaustion can be hard to explain to those who have never experienced it.”
