The photo is about mental health stigma. When people are suffering with poor mental health, many of them become isolated and experience internal self harm. This is illustrated by the broken glass pane in the window. The spider’s web effect of the shattered glass mirrors the fragmented impact poor mental health has on us all, from Anxiety, Depression, Low Self Esteem, Fatigue and lack of interest among many of the symptoms. The violence associated with the actual event of the window being smashed is mental health stigma. Stigma has to be challenged and resisted at every turn.
The word ‘Love’ scribed on the ledge is what we have to get back to when we have a period of poor mental health. We have to hold onto love, love for ourselves, our loved ones and our friends. We have to love who we are, love what we think, love what we do, and love what we see. Holding onto love will get us through, love is the bottom line.
I took the photo in Liverpool City Centre. I saw it on one occasion but didn’t have the opportunity to snap it and it was more than a week before I could get back there to take the photo… only this time a van was parked across it and I have to wait more than an hour before the van finally moved and I was able to take the photo. It was raining and I took shelter in a nearby pub until the van moved.