Frames of Mind
Sammie’s Story
This interview is to be listened to whilst viewing the exhibition, Frames of Mind.
The portraits in this exhibition are the result of a project capturing one young lady’s mental health journey.
Sam has lived with, but hidden, her mental ill health for many years. After opening up to me, we decided to embark on a small photography project. We had no real agenda, but this quickly grew to where we are now and me writing this to you. This is brave and scary for Sam and I have so much respect for her wanting to take this leap to help create awareness and understanding by sharing her story.
The portraits are all shot on black and white film, developed and printed in a darkroom. There was no computer or editing software used to produce these prints. In a world of digital filters, fake beauty and happiness, we think it’s important to bring back reality with these deep rich darkroom prints, intended to be seen in person and not on a screen. The audio intensifies the experience.
We know that mental health problems exist in all our homes, schools and communities. Addressing the crisis starts with being open and talking.
We hope this will help you to be confident in having difficult conversations and help others do the same.
Be Kind.