Photo taken by contributor Ed, a photographer from Mexico City who was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety in 2007 after severe stress led to a professional, financial, and eventually emotional breakdown. He has battled depression, anxiety, obsessive thinking, and fearfulness his entire life, especially as a child and teenager, after a traumatic family experience. Recently, Ed has found relief from the daily struggles through mountaineering and caving, running, and riding his bicycle. Those activities seem to help mitigate some of the confusion and suffering in his head. After a period of relative health, his nerves were shaken again in 2016, and he is in the process of recovering from a confused, sad, and unstable state of mind. Photography is Ed’s passion and a way to connect with life and the world that surrounds him. It provides him with moments of tranquility and peace. Nature’s landscape and details is where he finds beauty in life. Ed is struggling to start making a presence in the fine art photography world. He is now blogging his images and thoughts on photography and life itself, as he attempts to reconstruct his life, against all challenges, and become all he can be.

About this photo: “The contemplation of Nature’s finest details has helped me since my hardest mind collapse almost ten years ago. At first, it was my connection to life and the world itself, the strings of my own existence. Since then watching and photographing with a macro lens still fascinates me and takes me to places of solace and peace. This image in particular reminds me of the human flesh, crossed by the veins of blood and life, and also the wounds that pain and despair open skin deep and leave scars for so long”.

Find more on his blog, Facebook, instagram, and 500px.