Reflections

The Art of Storytelling

To be honest … at the time I didn’t think that I would connect to this photoshoot. 

 I was asked by a coworker to shoot some photos for her side business, a clothing line aimed to de-stigmatize the negative connotation behind mental health.  In theory, I did love the sound of a collaboration.  I have always been attracted to the creative fields – but always in random, disorganized spurts that never came into fruition and this was an opportunity to have a clear, concise project for a portfolio.

 I was also attracted to the idea that this was in support of de-stigmatizing conversations around mental health as I have my own battles with mental health.  However, even though some of the subjects were my good friends, I assumed that they were there to simply help with the photoshoot – not even thinking that they were people who genuinely connected to the message.  Besides, I was so focused on taking “cool” photos that would be appealing for a portfolio or Instagram page, that I wasn’t even thinking of how the subjects connected to the messaging of the clothes they were representing.

 A few weeks later, a questionnaire on mental health topics was sent out to those that participated.  Stories were sent back with a broad range of personal anecdotes on love, friendship, support, identity, struggle and loneliness.  Now these photos held a different meaning.   It was almost as if I was looking at the work of another artist and admiring the stories and the photos that represented them.  I felt a deep sense of connection to the stories – those that came from both people I met that day and friends that I knew for years.

 Reflecting on the above, it is pretty difficult to admit my blatant negligence of understanding the messaging and lack of effort to connect to those I was capturing.  Since I was a little kid, I have had this extreme genuine curiosity for those and the environment around me.  Consequently, I think this is why I have always been in love with the creative fields.  There is something that is so powerful and necessary in telling stories through art -and that I truly believe.

 I haven’t really picked up a camera since that photoshoot.  (Granted my 9-5 got busier, life responsibilities became heavier and we entered an entire pandemic.)  That’s why this project has been really cool to work on (shout outs to Chelsea and the This Far blog) – a project with no personal “end-game” but just a creative endeavor to do because I feel like it.  I got so caught up with superficial visuals of my work and needing the work to look “right” for likes and a portfolio that I lost my love for the creative fields and what I love most about photography .. storytelling. 

 Maybe it is time to pick that camera back up.