Shameless

People who live with shame face a difficult emotional and mental battle every day. Depression. Anxiety. Anger. Low self-esteem. Worthlessness. Shame feeds these feelings and can shape a person’s path in life. I want to shine a light on shame and show a different side of it, so we might heal ourselves and each other. PROJECT GOAL: To help de-stigmatize shame — to remove the kind of shame and disgrace that causes us harm and keeps us from moving freely and productively through our lives and in this world. To chip away at the power that shame lords over us when we keep it hidden within ourselves. METHOD: This project is two-fold, pairing photographs of subjects with their own stories of what shamed them. helping them unburden themselves while inspiring others. Shame doesn’t care about our feelings. Shame gets its strength by living in the dark, hiding within us. We give it that ability, until we begin the process of stripping it of its power and exposing it to the light. Despite the negative connotations of the word shameless, I want to elevate it as a strength of character—and show that strength (power, defiance, joy, triumph) through the lens of the camera. It was in those sh