Photo taken by contributor Shelby Hall, a mother in her twenties from Dallas, Texas. Before her boys were born, she had a difficult relationship with her now fiancé, in part due to his struggles with drug addiction. Shelby suffered from depression through much of their early relationship as a result of being unable to cope. During that rough time in her life she found herself comforted and consoled by her photography. Shelby’s fiancé is now sober, and they are happy parents together. She loves having her photos to look back on. They read like a timeline and you can see the progressions and pitfalls through them all. They also serve as a reminder of how much stronger she and her fiancé are today.

About this photo: “I spent a lot of years in a state of “remission” if you will. I was and am, really grateful for that. However I recently had my third child, and I have found my self in this weird state of absolute love and joy and just pure bliss, and at the same time.. completely lost. Like I don’t really have an identity as an individual anymore. And that’s what I’ve been trying to work out. It’s such a strange emotional state of high and low that I don’t really know how to start, so I’ve just been kind of sitting in front of my camera, and whatever comes out, comes out and that’s what I work with.”

Find more from Shelby at her blog.

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