The Green Phoenix

I started the Hello, My Name is... project in 2018 in part because I wanted to give others the opportunity to share their own lived experiences with the stigma associated with mental illness.  I used the photos I took as a way for me to illustrate the "Impact of Illness" stage as a template for others to follow to show the progression but they each created the labels based on their personal experiences.  During the shoots I only referred to the people by the labels created and attached themselves to help evoke the thoughts and emotions caused by the diagnosis or phrases that all too often become part of our identity.

We started each shoot with their names. The name that they preferred to be called even if it wasn't their given name:

                             

Next the were asked to share their diagnosis: 

Then various derogatory names/phrases used to describe them when referring to mental illnesses:

Finally they were asked to show how they feel based on the way the media/news and society choose to depict mental illness.  They were also provide with a piece of duck tape to put over their mouth and asked what they felt like had cause them to lose their voice:

The shoots are never easy but I appreciate every participant whose is willing to share their story. They are each unique and impact the people involved in different ways. But every participant to date has expressed a sense of release at the end that they didn't expect.