Personal Project: The Journey of Peace

Hello, Everyone! I know it’s been a while since doing a personal project, but this one has been weighing on my heart heavily these last few weeks. I feel like it’s the right time to put the concept out there. 

First, I want to start off by saying that all personal project sessions are purely donation-based, or pay what you feel led to. I’m here to capture the emotion, story, and because I feel very passionate about mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

Many of you know my story, but for those of you who are just joining, I’ll give you a recap. In high school, I lost a very big part of myself to suicide. I’ll spare you any details unless asked in one of our sessions. My dad took his own life in 2014. He was always such an inspiration to me and still is to this day. He pushed me to do what I loved and always supported me throughout my photography journey. After he passed away, I went through a rough patch in my life. That patch led me to be an advocate for The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It also led me to study a wide range of mental health issues throughout college. Needless to say, I’ve been in all corners of each story.

Now, I want to give others the chance I had. I want them to be able to tell their story and see how far they have come. I want them to be able to heal, even if it’s just a small part by participating in my project. I’m calling this The Journey of Peace, like the book I’m writing. I found myself recently participating in a project similar to this. I realized by looking back on the photos just how much it allowed me to find a little bit of peace or healing on my journey. 

I really want to photograph your journey through mental health or how suicide has played a role in your life. I’m doing this to raise awareness on mental health and to advocate for all individuals going through their journey or who have been through it. I’m raising awareness through photographing your emotions.

Details: Essentially, all sessions will be similar in how I capture it through photos. All of them will be different because nobody has the same story to tell. I’ll meet you in an area you feel comfortable being photographed in. I will be capturing this out in nature or if you have a specific spot that goes with your story, I’d be willing to travel to it. No need to get dressed up or wear makeup, I want you as you are, but please only neutral colors. I’ll have you tell me a bit of a background on your story or all of it if you feel open to sharing. From there I'll pose you in ways I feel capture your story and where you are now or a self-love session at the end. I will not be setting a time limit for my sessions, as capturing a story can take time. If you are open to allowing me to write your story or a portion of it for your gallery, I’d love to have it. It is not necessary if you do not feel comfortable. You will receive an online gallery of your edited photos.

All in all, I want to capture you and what has made you the person you are. I want to feel how you felt in the moment and capture the emotions in your journey. I want you to find peace or healing by participating in this project. I am a safe place for you to express your story and will not tell your story if you don’t want it out there. 

Session Example: 

Mental health disorder: ADHD 

Story: You feel withdrawn from your life and the people around you. You get easily distracted and end up falling behind with work and daily tasks. The people around you aren’t understanding what you’re going through and you end up having emotional responses to their backlash.

Photo Session: I’ll explain two photos I think of with this story, the first and last photo of the session. Obviously, there will be more photos the day of, this is just an example: I would do an up-close headshot of you holding your hands against your face and looking out in space or distracted. I would then pose you with several looks in that same pose and edit them so they are all combined into one photo or several exposures in one. Giving it edit like you are lost in several different places, allowing you to feel the emotion that person feels on a daily basis. The last photo will show how this person is doing now. If you are still fighting, no worries we will end it with a self-love session. If you have got help and are doing better, we will capture where you ended up. So if this person now goes to therapy, I’ll pose them like they are sitting and talking to someone with a ‘happier’ look on their face. Remember, I’m here to capture your story and your emotions. I will not be ‘making up’ how your story has gone or is going.

Photographs will be under a “model release” contract allowing me to post your photos to my socials, advocating for mental health awareness and suicide prevention. 

Please contact me if you’d like to participate. 

Thank you,

Lauren W.

Lauren Ashley Photography