Collateral Damage: Images of Those Left Behind by Suicide
Location
“Collateral Damage, Images of Those Left Behind by Suicide,” will be a book of portraits, website and gallery exhibition of people who have had loved ones and friends die by suicide. When I was 16 years old (I’m now 44) my father died from suicide. Although I never hid the fact that my father took his life, I often felt that I was left dealing with my pain and recovery in solitude, social stigma and loneliness. Throughout my professional career as a Paramedic and Firefighter, I often saw the beginning of the same pattern in the suicide calls that I attended to. I so often found myself wanting to say to grieving and demolished family members, “I know how you feel.” This pattern leaves the survivors of today feeling the same way I did 27 years ago. It is my hope that the Collateral Damage project will begin to change this.
