8 years of Faces of Fortitude

October 28th, 2017 – 8 years ago today, I posted this first portrait announcing the Faces of Fortitude project. The portrait was my own, along with the story of the loss of my brother Jimmy. You can’t find a lot of photos that I posed for in those years. I didn’t like myself very much…

Kim

In the last 8 years of this project, I’ve sat with and photographed many families touched by the same loss. Mothers, fathers, daughters, cousins, siblings, niblings, etc. I’ve learned that suicide loss can affect each person in the family so differently. Seeing the way each person uniquely grieves, and observing them do so together, yet…

Nicole

I talk a lot about how my portrait sessions with sibling loss are always so tender for me, the loss of a sibling tragically and suddenly – is an experience no one really understands or talks about. It’s a very unique kind of loss. So often times, there are similarities – which of course, bring…

Travis

After living for 50 sun spins and counting, I have separated my lifetime into eras. At one point in time I worked a lot in music, my music industry era. Early 2000’s in Seattle were quite a time in music history, and someone who wrote about it well was a music journalist I met during…

Colette

I would like to introduce you to Colette. We met at the AFSP Out of the Darkness walk, where she was walking for her mother. I was immediately struck by her story – experiencing so many levels of grief over her lifetime and beyond – through the generations of family on both sides of her…

Blooming with Grace

For the past 3 years I have started to center a daily routine for myself. Hydration, movement, brain work, social goals etc. One of the parts of my routine is stretching out my body. I had a moment of clarity recently, something that I find happens often during those quiet moments with myself. I stood,…

Angelina

Angie is one of the souls I was destined to meet from the ASFP walk this past year in Seattle. Its an event I always find people I connect deeply to. When you have lost someone this specific way, your heart looks franticly for someone that has felt that kind of pain. When you find…

Sydney

I first met Sydney as one of the co-chairs for the local AFSP chapter that puts on the annual walks here in our city. I presented a short speech at the event and a pop up gallery of photos from this project and Sydney was my point of contact and direct support for the event….

Kristine

When I was 7 years old, I met a girl that lived around the corner, her name was Kristine. She quickly became a playmate, both latchkey kids who liked to climb trees and swing as high as we could – I don’t have a lot of childhood memories, but I remember moments with Kristine, and…

Wanis

Bloom Note: At the end of this piece there is a photo of Jaylin’s body shrouded and adorned with flowers. The first time I met Wanis and his family I saw his eyes before I saw anything else. There was something familiar I saw in them as he walked up to the table at the…