For the Sake of Your Work

This series is my journey, the ups and downs of my mental health caused by fashion. I believe that mental health problems in fashion begin at fashion schools. As a fashion photographer who has been working in the industry for nine years, I have experienced my worst state of mental health while (and after) I did my masters in Fashion Strategy in The Netherlands. One of the worst aspects was not realizing how deeply it had affected me until a year after I graduated. In these self-portraits my goal is to portray the state of mind and vulnerability of a person of color within the Western-dominanted fashion education system through my own experience — how a person has to be both strong on the outside and vulnerable on the inside in order for the teacher to exploit it and break you ‘for the sake of your work.’ 

Through these images I also make a statement regarding the constant use of Photoshop in photography, which is one of the main ways that the fashion industry causes and perpetuates mental health issues. 

This has been a difficult period for me, but it hasn’t stopped me from doing what I love. On the contrary, it has given me clarity as to where and how I want to keep going; even if small, I’m hoping I can make a change in the fashion industry regarding mental health and creativity.