Hi, my name is Amani, I deal with depression on a daily basis and I think about suicide at least once a day. For the longest time, I felt like a fake. There are people who can’t get out of bed, who can’t function, who can’t even eat, because of how bad their depression is. And I’m…
I initially wanted to write a blog post only about a project I’m involved in, called Restart The Art, but I just finished working on my new picture for the 52 Week Project and I felt like the picture works well with the idea of the project. Restart The Art is an amazing idea by…
I’ve been super excited to share this with you guys! Last week’s theme for the 52 week project was mythology. I considered doing something based on mermaids for just a few seconds but then I decided I really wanted a dragon in my picture! I wasn’t sure how to make it happen, but then I contacted…
Just a few more days till 2015! Who’s excited? I am, and I’m not. I am because a new year sometimes feels like you get a chance to start over, like you get a clean slate and anything is possible. I’m not because almost every photographer I follow has posted something about their new years…
How often do we start down a path only to turn around out of fear? How often do we have a dream and then fail to live it? There are so many wasted moments, so many pieces of time that are lost because of fear. There are moments that could be, and moments that will…
The 52 Week Project is back! I know I haven’t been consistent with it so it kinda defeats the whole purpose. Traveling made it hard to keep up with it, and when I got back I just couldn’t get myself into that rhythm I was into, of shooting regularly. I justified it in my head by…
The other day I was looking at Jamie Tworkowski’s instagram page (founder of To Write Love On Her Arms), and he posted a picture with a caption that made me put my phone down and cry a little: So here’s my message to you, which may come as a surprise, but i hope it makes…
Last time I posted a picture for the 52 Week Project, I said that I’d do two new pictures to make up for being late with the last one. The themes I chose were phobia and growth. I was planning on making it something like a part 1/part 2 thing, but then while brainstorming I…
Have you ever come across something (a song, poem, movie, etc) and felt like it’s exactly what you needed to find given what you were feeling? Sometimes when I get sad and put my iPod on shuffle, it starts playing songs that either make me feel so much better, or that go with how I feel…
Fear can be the most crippling thing sometimes. It stops us from going after our dreams and it definitely makes our day-to-day lives so much harder. I’ve mentioned before that I get anxious sometimes about new relationships; always worried that I would end up being too annoying and driving people away. But I always convinced…
Amani AlShaali 