The Warrior Project: Portraits of Olivia, Burns Survivor.
A brand new installment of ‘The Warrior Project’, a series of portraits of women and children who suffer or have suffered from mental or physical illness or disability. Suffering from chronic illness myself and being neurodiverse (Elhers Danlos Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, chronic migraine and ADHD) I love to capture portraits of people who have mental or physical illness or disability, whether visible or invisible, and share a bit about them, in the hopes that my portraits will help boost confidence and raise awareness of their particular condition.
This time I am sharing the story of Olivia, daughter of my 40 over 40 participant Lindsay (you can read her story here: Lindsays 40 over 40) who survived a house fire, albeit with severe burns. Her lovely Mum wanted her to come and shoot with me in the hopes of boosting her confidence and helping her see she is beautiful because of her scars, not despite them.
Heres more about Olivias story in her own words.
Tell me a little about yourself! Where are you from, what do you do for work/hobbies?
I’m 21, at the moment I’m out of work for health reasons and I want (in the future) to have my own family as well as my own restaurant (we can all dream lol!) I’m from the Redditch/Birmingham area and my hobbies are probably just gaming and hanging out with friends.
When and how did your journey begin?
My journey started in 2020 near the end of the first lockdown. My house was set aflame using an accelerant by someone very close to me which caused me to have burns on 85% of my body.
How does it affect you day to day?
Not too bad physically now a days apart from the heat and itchy-ness. I can’t regulate my heat due to the thickness of the scarring and my skin is constantly dry. Mentally, it’s been harder to conquer as you can imagine but everyday im getting better.
What are the particular difficulties you have had to deal with, past and present?
I was in hospital from June 14th 2020 to October 22nd 2020. I had too many operations, so many that I lost count maybe 25/30 I’m not sure. The operations included mostly skin grafts and debridement (getting rid of bad skin) one of the operations was when they had to shave my head to get skin to put on my butt lol. Before the fire I had anxiety and depression and that I thought was the worst it could be until I experienced PTSD on top of it as well as my burns and other injuries. It’s hard to look at myself with any positive thoughts with the way I look currently but I’d say the people around me definitely help :)
What does your future hold with regards to your situation?
I think it’s just a matter of coming to terms with myself and my body,it’s never going to change so I might as well rock it!
Advice to others about to undertake or are at the beginning of a similar journey?
Don’t forget that you are who you choose to be and never compare yourself to who you were before as your body is a vessel for your soul and even if it’s damaged (in my case quite a lot) it’s still beautiful for keeping me alive so that I can have a long life:)
About your photo session, how was the experience as a whole?
Amazing! Donna is absolutely wonderful and she made sure me and my mum were comfortable and happy throughout :) I mean we travelled from Birmingham so you know she’s good ;)
How do your photographs make you feel?
At first I was skeptical I will admit… but as soon as I walked through the door and was greeted with a comforting smile I was at ease :) the photos came out beautifully and made me feel content in my body and it may not last for long as I’m still mending my self image but it definitely helped alot :)
What would you say to someone like yourself who was considering a portrait shoot with me?
Go for it! Honestly it’s an empowering experience and Donna will make you feel like a goddess (I know she did for me). I also got to see a picture of her dog which is always a plus :)
Anything else you would like to add?
I’m over the moon with my pictures and my boyfriend is too :) Remember you are beautiful, always <3