Journey of Self Expression

In 2013, I had the opportunity to submit my work to a local gallery show whose theme was "Abandoned". I decided to focus on the people who are often "abandoned" by society and set up my first formal photo shoot.  It was an amazing experience and I was lucky enough to work with a great local actor and make-up artists who helped me bring the images I envisioned to life.   The goal was to show a kid who had been abused and bullied by his peers. It was my first chance to share part of my story through a series of photos without having to actually talk about my experiences:

Being able to share my story with others was a freeing experience and opened my mind to the idea of using photography as a way to communicate the thoughts and emotions I struggled to explain to others.  The camera provided a buffer and safe way to share with others without having to actually talk to them, or even interact with them and I started creating a series of self portraits to show people what I was experiencing without the fear of judgment:

Through theses experiences I was able to create my first photo essay which allowed me to explore the the thoughts and emotions connected to the various suicide attempts I've had throughout my life. Especially the one that occurred in June 2010 and the frustration and anger I struggled with afterwards due to the fact that I had tried to reach out for help the night before but was turned away because of my history of suicidal thoughts and previous attempts that most viewed as "attention seeking behavior".  I wanted to be able to share part of my story but often times found that people didn't want to listen.  As a result, I decided to turn to my first form of communication and created Breaking Point: