Please welcome first-time contributor Shannon Kane, a 20-year-old photography undergraduate currently in the second year of her degree at the University of Hertfordshire. Shannon was first diagnosed with anxiety at the age of 12, when she was ordered out of school for six months. Shortly after, she dropped out of school for good as she dealt with her depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. She started using a camera to communicate the things in her mind that were hard to explain when she was 15, and over the past five years this has helped her to move on from things that were holding her back, such as family issues, depression, rape, anxiety, homelessness and more. She continues to communicate these struggles through her photographs and create beauty from her personal darkness.

About this photo: “Everything that happens to us leaves colour on us. Every setback, every trauma, tragedy – they leave their mark on us. The key to pushing past mental illness is to ensure that these marks are vibrant, they become a part of you. The universe has chosen not brushes to paint me with but buckets to throw at me and I will be beautifully saturated by the end of this battle, not wounded.”

Find more from Shannon on Facebook and Instagram @slrkanephotos

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