“Nationwide, almost one in five people (47.1 million) in the U.S. are living with a mental health condition,” according to Mental Health America. “57% of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment.” The mental health epidemic in America is invisible even to those living through their own struggles. I knew I wanted to tell a story about mental health, not through my voice, but through the voices of people who are currently experiencing mental health issues.

I met Apollo Figueira and Faraday King, who opened up to me about their stories and agreed to be a part of the project. They were given plastic, reusable, point-and-shoot, 35mm film cameras and told to photograph what their mental health looks like. They took pictures of their houses, their friends, and the buildings they walk past every day, but most importantly, they took photos that were important to them, that were personal and guided by their creative psyche, their pneuma.