It's Not That Simple

The following was my final project for my Intro to Photography class. While it's far from perfect, it's the first time I've ever attempted a series and I'm proud of it. 

Artist’s Statement

Lauren VanDerwerken

My first week in Utah, I attended a large lecture class in which we were shown this video, entitled “This Is Water." I found it inspiring and when it was over the lecturer respectfully told the class that the speaker (David Foster Wallace, a Pulitzer Prize nominated writer) had suffered from severe depression and eventually hung himself. This knowledge only cemented the message in my heart and made me contemplate the speech I had heard more deeply. Our lecturer then asked for thoughts from the students and to my disgust, many voiced the obviously ignorant opinion that clearly “he must not have trying very hard to follow his own advice.”

This perspective hurt and saddened me. I was so upset I wanted to leave class. How could such a huge group of intelligent individuals at such a respected university be so insensitive and have such a lack of empathy? Don’t they know it’s not that simple? Depression is an illness. It’s elusive. It deserves respect, understanding, and compassion.

BY THE YEAR 2020, DEPRESSION WILL BE THE MOST COMMON ILLNESS IN THE WORLD.

For more statistics like this, see here.

It's time to stop dismissing and ignoring depression. It’s real. And to those who act as if it isn’t, I say…

It’s not that simple.