I took this at Deer River, which goes to show that even the most gorgeous places can be home to subtle as well. Read about Deer River here on on my blog.

Be kind to people, spread love, bring smiles. You never know what people are dealing with behind their masks. ♥

too much stress right now!!

I texture from Pixabay

…looking for light

Photo Sponsored by a good friend of mine, with an important message

.

If you like this shirt, you can buy it on a Shirt, Hoodie, Hats and even more in RL!

Check it out, here:

Message from the designer:

"We fight our demons on the battlefield of our mind, as well as our heart. We endure pain and we grow tired. On days you feel like the war's been too long, and the pain is too much, I hope you stay."

All My Links

This is my second instalment for the CPTSD collection, the purpose of this is to highlight not only the cruelty of constant name calling, but just how it sticks in the mind. Even as I typed, printed and stuck these all over the wall, the memories come back. School bullies, toxic relationships, toxic family members, internet trolls, tyrannical bosses, the list goes on and on. One thing is for sure, bullying, in no matter what format it may occur, you never forget it.

Now you're probably wondering about the mask, well, this photo nails two aspects in one, not only bullying in the form of name calling and/or put downs, but also a type of coping mechanism. As a way to handle the constant onslaught of verbal abuse, a young mind such as a child, will adopt a idiosyncratic identity, like a virtual character mask, i.e. act like a clown anyway and the real identity beneath is protected; but of course this has a huge back firing aspect, the true identity behind and the coping mechanism are all one and the same thing, bullies also then start to see you more so as the clown/freak they think you already are, so in essence, you become what they perceive you as, and the bullying just gets worse.

And of course, when you act like a clown, no one really takes you seriously when you complain about said bullying, as many now see you as the instigator, even though it was designed to help cope with it all, but the question remains, how the bloody hell is a bullied child supposed to explain that?!

I hope everyone is well and as always, thank you. :)

PS: been a bit slow putting up new material as I have been dealing with yet another episode of depression this week. Urgh! Which will more than likely be the subject of my next photo.

Cold Flight

When you left migrating too long!

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

#TheArtofLife #IainMerchant #ThinkingOutLoud #Poetry #TheArtocalypse #Love #Life #mentalhealth #future #creativitymatters

Iain Merchant (www.theartoflife.gallery)

Up Close & Personal

Castle Gardens, Leicester

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

I believe that, sometimes, you can see ART "already" even if the piece is still not yet finished ;)

For the finished piece=> www.saatchiart.com/art/Drawing-REACHING-THE-END-OF-THE-DA...

Processed with MOLDIV

79/365/2023, 4462 days in a row

I took this photo yesterday but did not get around to doing any processing. In 2025 I took close to 90,000 photos, most I have ever taken, the vast majority of them were with my new camera the Nikon Z8, which I am very pleased with. I posted just over 1600 photos on my Flickr page. I do not remember what year I started photography but it started mostly with flowers and gardens which I was into at the time. About 13/14 years ago I started Bird and Nature photography and I have taken over 500,000 images, so much of that was garbage but there have been some good ones and some even I think are great. My time with a camera in hand has been a mental health thing, I am one of those people who gets overwhelmed by the world and photography takes me away from the anxiety that lives in my brain and distracts me in a most positive way. We all need to practice some positive mental health activities and for me this is it.

Walking and talking - a good way to stay healthy and happy!

Is Mental Health Awareness Month

It happens.

I wrote about 4 mindsets that lead to burnout and how to fix them: fourbrickstall.substack.com/p/four-reasons-youre-burning-out

Sculpture in The Path of life community garden, highlighting the effects of mental health problems

It’s ok to crave connection. We are created for community. We heal and grow in healthy relationship.

#lookingforlight

amandacreamerphotography.com/2021/02/09/created-for-conne...

________________

Nikon FE

Fuji Superia xtra 400

Developed at home

Unicolor C41

Negative Lab Pro

Different Lives...

So close and yet, such distance!

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

NYS Mental Health Police

Models: Rosie Roo and Zoe Parker

Unless one has actually been there, clinical depression and anxiety etc is very hard for a non sufferer to REALLY understand. Why doesn't the sufferer get a grip and just snap out of it?

Self-portrait for Kathimerini about mental health

Model: Miss Versatile

We need light in order to create darkness

It takes the power of light to make darkness happen

Without light, there can be no darkness

When we dive into our mind

What exactly can we see

Is there hope or inspiration

Is there an emotional abdication

What is the cause of my misery

Can the answers be found checking my history

What is the path that I must choose

I can’t decide for I may lose

My reality has altered

My mental state has faltered

If only I was able to cry

I can’t you see cos I’m a guy

I am the rock you rely on me

I am the one who must simply be

Supporting others to hell with me

And yes you know that’s where I’ll be

Why can’t you see this pain I carry

This awful burden is my adversary

You think this is just arbitrary

In a wooden box it’s me you’ll carry

Model Mark Jarvis

My emotional avatar right there.

For many years I’ve been struggling with my former time at school. The coercion, peer pressure, loneliness, the tribal culture and seeming chaos of random acts of cruelty and humiliation perpetrated by my peers deeply affected me. Add to that the bullying that was directed upon anyone observed to be either too smart or too dumb. So I ran silent and deep, tried to become invisible, did the minimum effort to receive a pass in my assignments, in constant fear of being cast out, rejected and mocked. After finishing school I felt cheated; I’d lost my chance at a career or even becoming who I might’ve been. I felt like a shadow. I felt like a failure. The bullies had won. I felt bitter and angry; I would resort to road rage to vent my aggression. In my mind I would become obsessed with questions like “Why” and “If only-“, I was trapped in my own past.

Through much counselling, reading and introspection, I had an epiphany recently. I realised that I’d survived. It sounds a so simple and a little quaint but I suspect that I had to be in the right place in order to realise the power of that statement. I was traumatised by school but I survived. Unfortunately many kids don’t. But I did, here I am. Suddenly the questions in my mind turned to “Now what?” and “What happens today?” Saying to myself that I survived something in the past gave me not only strength but focused me back on the present, the here and now. This moment here becomes important rather than trying to fix or resolve or find meaning in the past. That's a hugely powerful feeling for me and I’m proud of myself for surviving something I found so traumatic.

I don't know why it took me so long to get here but that's in the past now too. I don't know if this helps anyone reading it but if there's even the remotest, slightest possibility that it might, then it's worth sharing. Sharing our vulnerabilities makes us stronger, I think.

This graffiti really was there in the urbex lcoation we shot in

Model: Diego De Silva

"Selfcare - Autocuidado"

Esta fotografía tiene un gran significado para mí, no sabía si era una buena idea explicar de qué trata, estaba pensando en no poner mucho y dejarlo a la imaginación de todos. Pero siento que debo hacerlo, abrirme a contar lo que llevo meses callando y guardándome dentro. Sé que puedo llegar a herir o hacer sentir algo a algunas personas, pero yo hago arte y esta es mi terapia también. En estos últimos meses he pasado por una serie de cosas en mi vida en las que he tenido que explotar porque ya no lo podía controlar, una dura ruptura, depresión, ansiedad y una pandemia que me ha dejado ko. He tenido que aprender a encontrarme de nuevo, sola, sumergida en mis pensamiento más oscuros, he tenido que pedir ayuda porque yo ya no podía seguir adelante con todo y gracias a dios que la terapia me ha hecho sentir muchas cosas que olvidaba de mi. He llegado a sentir que mi vida no tenía sentido después de perder a la única persona que me hacía sentir que estaba viva. En los momentos más duros de mi vida he de dar gracias a mi madre y a mi perro por estar ahí en mis caídas y recaídas, en todas las lluvias que he dejado. Me he sentido la persona más sola del mundo y no tenía amistades que me sujetaran, he conseguido encontrar a personas nuevas que me han ayudado muchísimo a seguir adelante, estoy intentando quererme de nuevo, cuidarme, hacer cosas que me hagan feliz y poder olvidar. Hubiera querido que cuando mi mundo se derrumbaba la persona que más quería se hubiera quedado conmigo, no para ayudarme, sino para apoyarme, pero no fue así y no pasa nada. Ha llegado a un punto en el que mi cuerpo no puede controlarse y si derrepente he de llorar en mitad del super lo hago y si tengo que sentarme y llorar en plena calle, lo he de hacer, porque lo necesito. La salud mental no es fácil de llevar, tampoco quién te la crea. No puedo culparme por las cosas que han pasado, así que esta imagen significa que la única persona que va hacer que todo vaya mejor soy yo misma. Gracias a todas las personas que han estado en mi vida porque he aprendido mucho de ello y espero seguir haciendolo.

Hoy es mi cumpleaños btw, cumplo 26 y estoy queriendome cada dia más.

From the series, Gestures of gratitude.

WTBW

Hello, Old Friends.

It feels surreal to be writing this. If you remember me, you might remember my year-long project where I photographed myself every single day. That time was a whirlwind—a raw, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying experience that went more viral than I could have ever imagined. It connected me with so many of you who felt seen through my lens, my words, and my daily documentation of life, anxieties, and everything in between.

It’s been a few years since I last posted here. Life got busy, the camera stayed in the bag a little longer, and honestly, sometimes the world just felt a bit too loud for sharing. But I’ve missed this community, and I’ve missed the feeling of hitting ‘post’ on a photo that felt truly mine.

So, what have I been up to?

A lot has changed, and a lot has stayed the same. I'm still processing life through a creative lens, still navigating those daily anxieties we all share, and still documenting the journey—just a little differently now.

I've moved my daily, more immediate creative updates and personal stories over to my Instagram account. It’s where I post new photo projects, talk about what’s going on in my world right now, and continue those honest conversations about life, creativity, and mental health that we used to have here.

I’d love for you to join me there! Consider it the continuation of our story.

You can find me (and my camera) here:

✨www.instagram.com/riverroni/

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with all of you. Thank you for making that original project such a meaningful chapter of my life. The next chapter starts now.

'Mind your health'

Since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in May by reaching millions of people in the United States through the media, local events, and screenings.(copy and paste bit done)

This is now a Global campaign and awareness is indeed needed.

My thoughts after the last year or so we have had that helped no one through anxiety or other mental health issues was to give a moment to try and create an image that was my representation of the awareness campaign in lightpainting.

The translation of the shot will be different for everyone but the message is the same!

Model: Kathryn Michelle

Model Mark Jarvis

Photo Sophie Merlo

352/366/2020, 3639 days in a row.

Model: Kathryn Michelle

These are Photos that I have included in my portfolio. Each image shows my growth as a photographer. It shows how varied my photography is from Mental health to graveyards .

Flora

Mt St Bernard Abbey, Leicestershire

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Rutland Water

Sunday scenes

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#TheArtofLife #IainMerchant #Photography #DigitalArt #mentalhealth #Creative #ArtSale

A family member told me of mental health issues. Seek help, tell friends, and get plenty of sleep. I forgot, follow the recommendations of the doctors and take your medications.