Photovoice

Caldwell

Arts Academy

• Showing the positive influences (Strengths) in student’s lives that support their mental health through photography.

• Each student was assigned to take a photo of a strength in their life and write a narrative to describe how the photo represents that strength.
  

My biggest strength is family support and support from friends. I have chosen a picture of my mother because she is a very big inspiration in my life, and helps me with things every day. She is my motivation. She does more things for me than I can count and for that I am forever grateful.

Looking at my image helps me realize that it’s the little things that can bring the most happiness and I hope people will gain from this image that it is ok to have a support to lean on.

I named my work “Our Time” because my photograph represents how I spend my free time with my sister.

This shows my strength of family support. In this photo my sister and I were listening to music, so it also helped my mental health.

I hope by looking at this photo you see that you should do the things you enjoy in your free time because it does help with your mental health and any other health that supports you.

This photo demonstrates strength because if I'm ever feeling tired or stressed, I can always go on a stroll through nature, enjoy the beauty, and relax to forget about my problems.

I normally work on projects in the area. My photograph represents my appreciation for nature for what it is, the beauty of nature, and the relaxation that it brings me. I know that with nature I always have somewhere to relax and be free of my worries.

I hope viewers of my art piece will gain a better understanding of my love for nature and how it makes me feel relaxed when I'm worried or stressed.

Going on a trip with my dad up the coast to Oregon, it was one of the best trips of my life. It was hard to choose a photo that captures the feelings I got from the trip and the adventures we went on, but I feel I did a good job.

The photo shows my strengths by showing how much I enjoy nature and spending time with my family. The place that the photo was taken (The Avenue of the Giants) is also special to me as it was taken in California, where most of my family lives and was born, so the entire photo is important to me. I hope to the person reading this you put your phone down and go outside and make a memory by yourself or with your family.

I named my photo “Beauty in Rain” because it was taken outside on my porch after it had been raining for a long time.

I would say that my picture shows my strength because I like taking nature photos whenever I can so I can relax.

I ended up realizing that anytime I look at this photo it relaxes me, which is why I chose this photo. I hope that people who see this photo get a sense of relaxation when they see it.

I took this photo to show how I love my dog and ​want to take an opportunity to remember all the ​moments I have with him.

The strength shown in the photo is family. ​Another reason I took this photo is I want people ​to see that a pet can comfort you and make you ​happier during a stressful week.

My photo that I took captured good detailing in my main focus, which are the clouds and the sky.

It also shows lots of value with the dark blue, then the light orange-yellow color, after that it goes to a dark green because of the trees.

The strength my picture is showing is nature. I chose this strength because I am relaxed in nature, and it's satisfying to see and explore.

I took this photo to show my strengths in what makes me calm, relaxed, and happier. The one thing that makes me feel all those emotions is walking because walking makes me feel like I'm on a journey to a place never seen before.

Walking is makes me feel more energized and prepared for the day as it feels to me when doing so. In the end, all I want the viewers to feel from this picture it is calmness and a relaxed feeling.

The photo was taken during a family trip to Broken Bow containing many trails. This was one of my favorites, which was the “Friends Trail.”

I love walking down trails with just nature because I am always just at peace. The sunset flowing through the trees just put me at state of being like no other.

Seeing how calming the woods of Broken Bow is, how it is so tranquil; I wanted to share my experience. I wanted to share what happens to me when I am walking.

My photo represents the work I put into photography. In this photo there wasn't much purpose for it at the time I had taken it, but looking back at it I can get a lot out of it that expresses me and my interest through photography.

For one, my photo shows friendship; taking the picture captures the way I like to incorporate people I love through photography, as well as capturing photography.

It may not make sense at first glance; however, it shows my passion for photography through a simple picture. And finally, my photo symbolizes persistence, showing the focus of the person in the picture by her hand placement, and somewhat shows mine as it has a small aperture to have a focal point on the camera.

I hope this picture inspires viewers to maybe have appreciation for the essence of photography.

This photograph shows a beautiful statue of a woman right in the middle of the frame. She has a very sorrowful expression, pretty, yet so sad. The trees, sky, and the outside world surround the statue. This is all nature, which is such a beautiful thing, just like the woman herself. My strength is nature. It's such a peaceful and beautiful place, it makes me feel at ease. Almost as if I’m at home, it’s just a comforting feeling that nothing has yet to beat, helping me with any kinds of emotions I feel. Whether I’m feeling down or frustrated, just taking in that fresh air really changes things. I took this at a gravesite. I was just looking around, and she instantly caught my eye. Her expression was so strong, as if she was a real person, it made me almost feel exactly how she looked. Just for a split second, I connected with her. Even if she isn’t real, I could still feel her sorrow and her desperation. Seeing things in nature or things made that are surrounded by it makes me realize the beauty of what I’m seeing and not take it for granted. It helps me take in the moment with my eyes and really just take time to notice my surroundings, then I start seeing things I’ve never seen before. That really makes me feel like me. I hope anyone that sees my photo or even reads this feels something, whether it’s the same as the woman’s expression or just a feeling they got when they laid their eyes on her. I want whoever sees this to walk away and feel something that almost shocks them and makes them take a moment to stop and just look around and notice their surroundings. Just taking in the moment and appreciating it instead of moving on to the next thing and taking moments like these for granted.

My photograph is named “Jolly Ornament” because I took it in December while the tree was still up and had ornaments.

This photo is calming to me because it gave me the Christmas spirit during the time and that I see my own reflection in the main focus.

I took this in the hallway, where I usually go to my classes. My attitude has changed though because it is not Christmas anymore, but I hope that it makes people have a positive attitude when looking at this in March.

I took this photo because I like to have happy memories with my dog, and since she is a puppy in this photo, I wanted to recognize my dog as a puppy.

I also took this photo because I love my dog, and if I am feeling off, I know I can snuggle with my dog and feel happy. Based on my photograph I would say my strength is family.

My narrative is about my Tia, and my last trip to see her, and the memories I had with her. My Tia is on the left in the picture; she was standing next to her mom. No one knew that this would be the last trip we would all see her. The call we got after church that one Sunday she had passed, all that came to mind were memories of her and that last trip in this picture would be the last time I would have seen her, hugged her, and laughed with her.

But with this picture, no one would know that exactly one month later, from that day that this picture was taken, she had passed. One memory that I had of her was that she was a fighter, and she made it this far in her life to get one last family reunion and one last picture with her mom until her time had to come to an end.

My photo is based off sports. Sports help me in many ways physical and mental. Many people think that sports are all physical, but no, it is also mental.

It is something that I can easily rely on to take my anger and stress out on. My journey through sports has helped me evolve as a person by giving me strengths and a different mindset to cooperate with a team or people in general and into the young lady I am.

I hope that whoever sees this photo can relate and whoever dislikes sports can see why other people around them do.

My strength is family and nature. My photo includes nature because of the big rocks and the clear, blue water you can see in the photo.

In this picture you can see that my brothers are living life and spending time with the family and then my mom and sister are just happy to be there, my dad is looking at something on the ground, and I think it is a good way to show the strength of family/spending time with family.

That is why I think the strengths of family and nature are combined together in this photo.

This photo was captured when me and my dog were at the park running. This photo captures my dog and shows how strong he is my strength.

He helps me get through tough times, and when I'm with my dog, my troubles float away, and I can relax. No matter what, I know I can rely on my dog being there when I need him.

My photo is a pose of me and my dad. It's a thing we do all the time. I realized you should gain a relationship that is a bond you never want to let go. When you go home, make bonds you want to keep and never let go.

Over time, Photovoice introduced strengths to me, and I realized what strengths are. Things or people that make you relax, feel at home, or hobbies that take you out of the world for a little bit. What I want people to acknowledge is that there are things out there that can make you happy. Sometimes you have to find it.

Whenever I become stressed or have a depressive episode, I turn to my guinea pigs. They help drain my frustration, and wash away any ‘drowning’, making me feel much better.

I like to consider them close, reliable family members. I’d consider this as family support, which I think a lot of people, including myself, should rely on more, rather than shoving yourself into a corner.

I took a photograph of a drum called the tenor drum. The tenor drum is four drums (toms) compacted and tuned into one.

This drum is a strength to me because I have a practice drum pad like this, and I play on it to relieve stress.

The tenor drum has a big impact on me because I played this drum when I first joined the drumline, and I loved it. It was my favorite marching drum. I sometimes play it while I’m at drumline.

The photo is of my dog who is very energetic and ecstatic dog, who represents a positive friend and reliable family member.

I hope viewers feel happy towards the image.

My photo represents my family strength because not only was I watching a game with my family, but I was also watching my little brother play in the game.

This photo also represents healthy activities because we were outside while my brother was playing soccer, which is both healthy and soccer is one of my strengths.

One thing that enhances my mental well-being and helps me relax is the beautiful day outside and the painting-like sky above me that day.

My piece is titled “A Moment Back in Time” which was taken at the Caesar’s palace in Las Vegas. I've taken my camera with me every day and on one stroll downtown we came across the Caesar’s Palace, and I immediately went in to take pictures.

Once I came across the structure of Julius Caesar, I was in awe. I took the photo to capture this beautiful structure and to showcase my love for photography and my trip, so I combined those both into one.

I have great love of reminiscing old photographs of mine because it takes me back to the moment, I captured it and I remind myself how happy I was in the moment. My main purpose for showing this piece off is to remind viewers that creations like these can be just as beautiful as new art pieces if not more and should definitely go to get all the recognition for more years to come.

The photo of my dog shows my strength in my mental health, family support, and healthy activities.

My dog helps me with my mental health because I feel less stressed when I'm with my dog. This shows family support because we go on walks as a family and play games when our dog is with us.

This also helps me with healthy activities because I love to go on walks and play with my dog. I can always trust that my dog will be there when I need him.

Here is my best friend who has been there for me since I can remember. He is the sweetest, most loving, caring, and loyal dog you will ever meet.

I chose this picture of him because I felt that it shows how absolutely adorable he is. I hope he has made your day a little brighter if not the brightest.

Going home from a volleyball game, I was exhausted. I turned on my music and stared out the car window. I took the photo on the road (in my car), near Tyler Legacy, Tyler Tx.

This shows spirituality because I was in touch with my spiritual side by zoning out and meditating while listening to some tunes.

I believe that music is a great way to spiritually connect with yourself and is a good way to remove stress from your back.

The title of my photo is “Flowing Notes,” I decided to call it that because when you play music, the notes change, or flow in different ways.

My strength is playing my viola because it helps me relax and represents (to me) going with the flow as the notes change. One reason this helps me relax is because the music helps distract me or it helps me focus.

I choose this photo because I think it represents my strength the best. I also choose this photo because I like it the best.

This photo was taken in the woods for my dad's land. For me this photo shows spirituality because the outdoors helps me realize how big and beautiful the world is.

Walking outside helps me relax and take in the beauty of nature and by being outside away from the city you really start to realize that everything is alive and breathes. This photo shows some green trees and not so green trees, but everything just falls in place like it's meant to be.

I like to have the mindset of living in the moment and trying not to look at my phone because the outside world is always changing. I hope you find a new appreciation for the outside world and enjoy nature as much as I do.

Photovoice

Caldwell

Arts Academy