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December 12th, 2015

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Head over to @openeyegallery to see this take over

Head over to @openeyegallery to see this take over exploring how Big Brother the book, about my brother’s struggle with schizophrenia, intersects with environmental issues. #mentalhealthawareness #bigbrother #naturetherapy #artandphotography

Very happy to be show casing a selection of the Bi

Very happy to be show casing a selection of the Big Brother series at the Open Eye Gallery Digital Window for LOOK Climate Lab; Including the very excellent fellow @landartcollective artists @almudena.romero and @melaniekatking. From Feb 09-20, 2022.

Justin uses nature and his love for birdwatching like medicine to support and medicate for his mental health issues; the environment is a reservoir for wellbeing!

#landart #environmental art #mentalhealthawareness #bigbrother #naturetherapy #birdwatching #ArtinLiverpool

Wishing you all a peaceful Remembrance Sunday. Ju

Wishing you all a peaceful Remembrance Sunday. Just posting two more pictures from the #BeforeTheyWereFallen project.

When I started this project on remembrance it was with an awareness that photography, of all the mediums is particularly well suited to dealing with issues of time and memory and could be used to give an alternative family-centric perspective on remembrance. Here we can see two examples of the space left behind in the recreation of the family snap; where the soldier should be but is now fallen.This series is particular relevant now following the recent developments in Afghanistan as soldiers and their families reevaluate the purpose of the conflict there. Please visit my website #BeforeTheywerefallen to see all the work and read the amazing interviews by @reegzwrites

“I was on my knees in the car park, screaming. Then this bubble just formed around me, I picked myself up and walked back inside and said to the security guard, ‘I’ve just found out that my son has been killed in Afghanistan’, I need to go back into the building.” - CAROLINE MUNDAY from Coleshill, Worcestershire, lost her son, Trooper James Munday, serving in the Household Cavalry Regiment when he was killed driving a jackal, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 15th October 2008. He was 21.

“I miss my little brother: I just miss him being around. It was strange going back to that house in Caerphilly for the photo, because I hadn’t been in fifteen years and everything felt smaller and on the wall behind us are the two, white, football posts that were painted on, and that we used to play against when we were little. It made me nostalgic for that time, when life was simple… As I get older, I get sadder, I get angrier. I miss him more” - EMMA BETTS, from Nottingham lost her brother, Private James Prosser, a warrior infantry vehicle driver serving in 2nd battalion the Royal Welsh, when he was killed as a result of an explosion in Helmand, Afghanistan on September 27th, 2009.

#Remembrance, #November11th #BeforeTheyWereFallen #Afghanistan #remembrancesunday

November the 11th is already here! When I started

November the 11th is already here! When I started this project on remembrance it was with an awareness that photography of all the mediums is particularly well suited to dealing with issues of time and memory and could be used to give an alternative family-centric perspective on remembrance. Here we can see objects chosen by Toni to signify the death in action, in Afghanistan of her husband Gary . Each object comes with a quote; three are selected here. This series is particular relevant now following the recent developments in Afghanistan as soldiers and their families reevaluate the conflict there and its success.

Running Top “Gary was very fit, always at the gym. The top reminds me of when Gary asked me to sew the arms of his T Shirt so they were smaller and showed off his muscles! One of my funniest memories of him”.

Stones and Stuff “Gary loved to collect fossils, stone and shells form the places he went. He would be able to tell you exactly where each piece came from.”

Beret “His work meant everything to him, and when I look at these I think of the word Hero.”

——

Toni O’Donnell, lost her husband, Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary 'Gaz' O'Donnell GM, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, when he was killed on Wednesday 10 September 2008, in Helmand province. Each of these objects photographed here have been selected By Toni O’ Donnell as having a special significance for her in remembrance of her husband Gary and show how often ordinary objects are imbued with extraordinary significance following the death of a loved one. The objects take on a talismanic value but also represent a facet of the personality of the fallen soldier and another way into understanding the person behind the uniform. #remembranceday #afghanistan #beforetheywerefallen #remembrance #britisharmy #november11th

New images from the series double exposure ( worki

This post is Celebrating the expansion of the ULEZ

Happy Mental health day ( well for yesterday actu

Happy Mental health day ( well for yesterday actually ) but I just wanted to drop this post. I’m applying for ( or trying to ) more hours of support for both Jackie and Justin, and its going to be a slog . In simple terms they both have a diagnosis of schizophrenia and are unable to look after themselves. Right now Jackie is allocated 3 hours per week support and Justin 4. So beyond their basic needs that any one on disability would get they have an extra 60 and 45GBP of support; with one meeting every three months with their psychiatrists. There is a duty social worker for Justin , you call a hot line and you get what you get. Jackie has a dedicated social worker thankfully; who is young and motivated but I suspect overwhelmed.

Once upon a time these guys would have been looked after in very expensive asylums . They were not the right place for them and care in the community replaced them rightly so ; but each year the resources available for people like Justin and Jackie seem to shrink . There are un-intended costs to this cost saving however, for example Jackie will call the ambulance service when she has a panic attack, as she knows they have to come when no one else will; when all she needs is a a local PA to pop over: cost £30 versus £300, or even a care line installed . I have a friend who works in that service;so much of their time, she says, is spent dealing with these sorts of their calls! The other service of last resort that’s gets used a lot by those with mental health issues is the police.

My other brother has been down ( from Lowestoft) and just spent two solid days getting Justin’s flat tidy: Justin’s cleaner who left this week, was overwhelmed I suspect after three years of coping with only a few hours . Today I am saying, we should be really thinking about allocating proper resources to social care . Rant over, thanks and thinking of all those other people who need support for their mental health needs today and this week. #worldmentalhealthday #mentalhealthawareness #bigbrother

#schizoaffectivedisorder🌱 #worldmentalhealthday #socialcarecrisis #bigbrother #mentalhealthawareness

Possibly an adult now this girl lived right alongs

Its taken a while to experiment with just how best

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Double Exposure
The Daily Tweeter Lockdown Project
New Year’s Message
Big Brother , The Book.
Big Brother
Dying Matters
End of Year Update #BeforeTheyWereFallen
Lest We Forget
China’s One Child Policy is a Two child policy!
Before They Were Fallen, The Exhibition is here.

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