Portfolio: Josephine Herrick Project with NAMI-NYC

My name is Amela Dz., when I am not blogging or writing articles amongst other responsibilities I paint, photograph and get active in community service. My professional mental health blogging and ‘enterprise’ name is Mental Wellness by Amela. My art is often for sale or simply available for creative fair use goes by ‘Art by Amela’. There have many issues of copyright infringement which I’d like to someday counter legally. In the meantime, I also contribute my creativity and intellect to higher collective purpose to connect with others who are in the shared struggle of being misrepresented, underserved or misguided socially, politically, economically and humanistically. As an advocate with NAMI-NYC I have donated much of my time to the organization because of my desire to end the stigma on mental illness and crisis. Honestly, I am very proud of myself because I have come a long way and with that many have too.
During this collective project my peers and I at NAMI-NYC were given the opportunity to sign up to one of the many amazing and life empowering events offered by NAMI-NYC thanks to generous funding. During the COVID-19 Pandemic the Josephine Herrick Project, which serves underrepresented New Yorkers by giving them a voice and representation of their worldview through photography. The JHP has worked with so many individuals who could not put into words the painful, grieving, tormenting, struggling with loss and other deeply emotional experiences through photo. I am grateful to JHP for this movement which brings together diverse groups and displays our experiences in a way that can show the world what it means to feel these feelings. What it means to see these sights, sounds and smells, environments, settings and all of that which it symbolizes. I hope that you can take the time to view our photos as they are deeply meaningful to our experiences with our disease. It gives us the ability to demonstrate through creative messaging that this disease although lifelong does not always feel like a prison or heavy feelings. Sometimes they can be a paradox blending in or standing out–for example a photo can have a melancholic theme or identify a serious symbol with whimsical colors. These are our moments of self expression captured in photo for all to see. Enjoy.