The vision for this shoot was something that has been in my head for a while, and I'd asked my friend, Caroline, a while ago if she'd be willing to help me bring that vision to life. With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, I had the thought of doing a personal project, but wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to convey.
Rather than add to the tiring dialogue about mental illness, I really wanted to focus on the strength of trauma survivors, without glorifying or ignoring the dark parts of reality that these people face. Often, healing and recovery is spoken of as a one time thing that someone does and then they're done with. As if somehow they endure life altering pain but eventually just get over and return to the person they were before.
The reality is that trauma changes a person and forces them to dive deep and find incredible strength to adapt. In this way, it is often the bad, even horrific, that starts the journey of discovering so much good.
These images are a visual representation of the beauty and wonder to be found a life lived with the inclusion of the dark parts that stay with us and the amazing parts that come out of that when we find ways to keep going.














