Use Your Voice
I created ‘Use your Voice’ after I received an email from a couragous woman named Maura. Maura sent the most heartfelt letter sharing with me a very personal and heartbreaking look into the chapters of her, book of life. At the end of the email, she ended her letter with, ‘but I’am still here’ and that resonated with me. Regardless of how much she wanted to give up on herself, she never did, through everything she endured and went through, she still is here and I knew I wanted, actually needed to do ‘something’ with her story and her involvement and so I asked her if she would like to participate in sharing her story and she said yes! (which is shared under the project, ‘State of mind’). I also asked Maura and a few others if they would pose for individual photos holding cards up of how they connected with the words ‘mental health’. I wanted something simple and impactful to represent people and their ‘stories’ of what they were going through or what they wanted to say. After I discovered how these messages made me feel when I was editing, I thought the world could use a little hope and therefore ‘Use your Voice was created. Since then, during my travels throughout Alberta, Canada to communities, schools and events, I have taken over 600 photos of individuals expressing themselves with messages of resilience, hope, bravery, kindness and inspiration. Thus collectively creating a celebration of unity among us all to build bridges over walls bringing all of our communities together as one.
Mauras’ message is ‘I am still here’…
