About Pics 4 Passion
In 2017, Pics 4 Passion was just a dream on a Pinterest board. With the vision to start creating images that showed mental health in its raw form compared to the posed version on social media, Hannah, a photography student at the time, connected with another classmate and close friend, Bridget, and shared this vision with her. Together, the two worked on sharing images and capturing people’s journeys with mental health, productively and educationally.
So, while some photos are posed, they are done to make people stop and think. To increase conversations that may otherwise been too hard to start. Most importantly, we should provide the models, our friends, and community members with a chance to see the impact that their stories can have on others. At the beginning of P4P, there was drive, focus, and strong momentum. In the first full year of the project, Hannah secured funding for a photojournalistic book project, Pain V Passion (PvP), highlighting the stories of strangers who want to see a better future for future generations and are willing to be photographed and share their stories. You can read more about that specific project here—Link.
As Hannah shared her book idea, she gained even more momentum in turning P4P into something sustainable. Unsure entirely what it would look like, Hannah knew she didn’t want this project to end. So, she applied to attend a scale-up youth summit hosted by the Duke of Edinburgh International Award. The summit was to be held in March of 2020. This summit was a chance for her to pitch a continuation project of PvP and P4P and turn them into an organization that would offer workshops and programs if she received the possible funding of up to $10,000. During the summit, Hannah prepared her pitch. At the end of the weekend, she presented it to the room and panel of CEOs and funders. As she stood there sharing her hopes and dreams, she was nervous and excited about their decision to fund her project over the other six incredible ones in attendance. That evening, they announced the winners of the grant money from the pitch competition; all seven projects were being funded for their uniqueness and visions to support their communities. The sigh of relief was no match for the whirlwind to come before the week’s end. On the plane ride home on Monday, Hannah drafted a letter to turn down her ideal job because she knew this project would be full-time work and wanted to dedicate all her energy to it. This job would have been a fantastic backup if she hadn’t been funded. Three days later, Covid hit, shutting down the province and most of the world shortly after. P4P came to a crashing halt.
Unsure what to do, as most of her project ideas were for in-person work and she didn’t have the tools or resources to figure it out online, Hannah quickly drafted a new proposal to use the funds to support her community and hopefully keep P4P alive. During the summer of 2020, Hannah used the grant to create over 200 self-care kits delivered to youth throughout the municipality. She gave them to youth shelters, libraries, and nonprofit organizations that provided programming and shelters for youth in the community. While this was not photo-related, Hannah felt using the funds practically for the current pandemic was essential.
That project ended up being one of the last things Hannah did for P4P for two years. However, once COVID calmed down in her province, she was invited to a workshop teaching young adults how to use photography as a coping strategy and fun activity while navigating the grown-up world. So Hannah pulled together the Intro to Photography and Therapeutic Photography workshops. She ran these workshops every quarter with new cohorts each time.
It was during Covid that Hannah realized more than ever that P4P would be something that would last more than a generation. It was now a matter of figuring out how to sustain it and bring the passion back to the community. Throughout 2018-2022, Hannah spoke at a few youth summits, work conferences and international online platforms. She discussed her love and the P4P project, talked about how to turn your passion into something that can benefit the community, and dedicated time to opening a photo studio for a couple years to get her creative juices flowing.
Since the end of 2022, Hannah had to take yet another break from P4P. As she went through some health challenges, she found herself in a deep depression and was working on acknowledging and working through her addiction to alcohol. It broke her heart to stop once more. But sure enough, God opened doors for her to keep her foot on the path and not wholly let the project go. As she leaned into her faith more wholeheartedly, she found peace and comfort within the chaos of life.
In 2023, Hannah was asked to share her story in a collaborative book, With Grace and Grit. Writing out her story in 2000 words felt like an impossible mission because there was so much she wanted to share. However, she was again asked to share and relit her fire and passion for P4P. So, she decided to dedicate time, with no timeline, to think and pray about possible next steps for P4P.
This brings us to now. Since spring 2023, Hannah has been figuring out the next steps for the project that will allow her to continue healing from her health challenges and addiction, dive deeper into her faith, keep photography as a conversation starter, and, most importantly, allow P4P to support the community and Hannah once again.
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