In a particularly difficult season of depression, photography was one of the tools Tara Wray used to cope.
"Just forcing myself to get out of my head and using the camera to do that is, in a way, a therapeutic tool," says Wray, a photographer and filmmaker based in central Vermont. "It's like exercise: You don't want to do it, you have to make yourself do it, and you feel better after you do."
"There were moments that I felt alone and isolated in a dark place, and I wondered if I would see the other side of it," she says. "Photography has given me those moments back ... I can now see them in a different light."
At the same time, Wray stresses that photography isn't her only tool.
"You've gotta have a whole arsenal of things to deal with mental illness, and I try to do all the things I can to stay healthy," she says, adding that she knows she is fortunate to have a supportive family and access to therapy, medication and good doctors.
Wray is a self-described introvert and private person. For her, taking the photos was one thing, but the decision to publish a book about her experience with mental illness was another.
"These are things you wouldn't necessarily talk about with the other parents at pickup at school, but here I am putting everything out there," says Wray. "I'm using my own sort of shame and fear of sharing this with others to encourage others, to say, 'It's OK to do it.' ... There's nothing to be ashamed about."
To read more of Becky Harlan's article, please click here.
Comments (2)