A Montreal woman is using her love of photography to raise awareness about mental illness.
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By her own admission, Sherry Brunet says she is surrounded by cases of mental illness — both her sons live with it.
Her youngest son, Nicholas, attempted suicide for the second time two months ago.
“He labelled himself as crazy,” she recalled.
Earlier this year, Nicholas was forced out of a French addiction treatment centre because he was actively trying to transfer to an English facility.
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Following the experience, she decided to embark on a photographic exploration with a new project called Listen with your eyes.
Her subjects: people who are experiencing mental illness, or have loved ones who have.
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“I had so many volunteers, volunteer themselves to be subjects for this project,” she told Global News.
Brunet says her goal is to shed some light on the issues of mental illness.
“It was an outlet for me, being able to do this as an artist, an outlet for everything I was going through,” she said.
“But I also wanted to do it for my son, and to give all those people struggling a voice.”
The opening is slated for the If These Walls Could Talk Gallery on Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.