The Faces of Fortitude

Grace Love and I met over a decade ago, in the Seattle music scene. I walked into this building and heard the most full bodied, lovingly nuanced, magical powerful voice echoing through the crowd and immediately had to know who the owner was. That night I met Grace and have stayed connected at a distance…

I remember reading Gambles application for the project and having a moment of pause. Let me be clear, all of these stories give me some sort of reaction that makes me pause – my own things coming up that are unhealed, and I’ve learned how important it is to be present and sit in the…

Aaron and I met in the music scene over a decade ago. Thanks to the powers of social media, we have stayed in each other’s sights over the years, mutually respected acquaintances with loads of friends in common.  In 2019, two years after starting this project, I got a FB message from Aaron, wanting to…

Over the past several months, I’ve been relearning how to properly care for my space and myself while shooting portraits for this project. I am enjoying creating new rituals in the process, and focus more on the health of myself and the space and less about the perfection of the technology and actual photos.  I…

Kora is the first in the Faces of Fortitude: Metamorphosis Series: a series revisiting Faces in this project, who had their portraits taken in 2018/19 – and since have had major life altering transitions. Kora and I had an immediate connection because of our toxic mothers. When we met for her first portrait session, I…

Faces of FortitudePhotographers Notes + Session Quotes Tracy and Maggie’s session was my inaugural shoot in my own space, and there were so many things I was nervous about. Would this space, that had been essential in my own healing over the last 3 years, translate to others? Would the energy that had held me…

Last week I had the opportunity to hear Ashley Judd speak at the National Press Luncheon in Washington DC, about the horrors she endured in the hours after her mothers death by suicide. The moment you lose someone to suicide, it is said that the EFFECT that it has on your body, is likened to…

Sharing my journey helped me in many ways! I had people reach out to me and ask for help getting into treatment, asking for advice, and it really made me feel like my struggle was for a reason. Helping others feel like they aren’t alone has been a huge part in my own recovery. It…