What I Haven’t Told You

• Prize
  Silver in Portfolio/Fine Art
• Photographer
  Rahshia Sawyer

Belonging is a core emotional need; unknowingly it delicately changes who we are. Subtly shifting us from, who we want to be, to what we think we have to be – leaving, who we really are, hidden away. Not wanting to be vulnerable to exclusion, we repress emotions and allow our fear and shame to dominate. Thus resisting who we are, in order to belong – falling into a Jungian paradox. A contradiction that allows our emotions not only to persist, but to amplify until they become the loudest thing we emote, but cannot hear. It isolates us from our core, our authentic self, and quiets our spirit. This deafening causes others to speak softly – so softly that we no longer belong. This series shows the disagreements between our emotions, and the paradox as it appropriates the figure.