how we cope

Having a severe mental illness is a bit like carrying around a big heavy elephant on your back. It's an incredibly heavy burden to bear that everyone notices but not many people want you to talk about because it makes them uncomfortable. It's lonely.

For as long as I could remember, something inside just didn't feel right. Since I was a child I've been plagued with various mental illnesses that evolved over time into Borderline Personality Disorder. When I was diagnosed in 2014, I felt like I finally had an answer to the uncontrollable pain and suffering I had been experiencing for as long as I could remember. For the last six years photography has been my form of therapy to release the negative emotions I had been feeling. So it was natural for me to create how it felt to live with BPD. Eventually I had enough pieces for a series.

SARAH-ANN LORETH is a self taught fine art and travel photographer from New England, who specializes in conceptual portraiture. In her work she tries to convey a quiet stillness of emotion with a connection to her natural surroundings. She stumbled upon photography while working in the medical field and threw all her energy into teaching herself the craft.

When not taking photos Sarah is an avid gardener who loves to cook, write, listen to political speeches, and binge watch The Golden Girls.