Jill Siao, Mental Health Matters (PEOPLE 2022)

This photo was taken for my assignment in portraiture class this trimester. I was working on a project and it’s called ‘My Emotions & Feelings Series’. This is just one of the photo in the series. It’s about the story of me last year during the pandemic. I was physically, mentally and emotionally tired and it was the first time in my life I got to experience and learned so much about my emotions and feelings. I was lost. I was scared. I was crying. I was depressed. I was hopeless. I was exactly on an emotional rollercoaster. It got to a point that I wanted to give up everything and just pack my luggage and fly back home. I’m glad I didn’t. Instead, I managed to show up to classes and at work and got through all the challenges I had back then. Without the support from friends and family, for sure I wouldn't have gotten through. In this series, I want to show people the authentic and vulnerable side of me. I also want to let people know that mental health is really important and everyone should be aware of that. Now, I'm so much happier and realized that no matter what, mental health is going to be my #1 priority. Taking care of yourself first so you can take care of others.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.