♪♪ Hi.

I'm Danielle.

And this is how art changed me.

I think my life would be a lot more difficult without art in it.

I know that to be a fact.

I think, whether it was the depression or anxiety, the bipolar or the post-traumatic stress, I think art helped me to connect.

And I can't even imagine if I didn't have that.

I think I would be in a much darker place without art.

I think maybe even -- I even wouldn't be here without art, because it really helped me to process what I've experienced in my life and what I am going through, what I have gone through.

College was when I started -- when I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

It was hard to get to class, and it was hard to shower and get dressed.

And I was having suicidal ideation.

I just -- I didn't want to be here.

I didn't want to deal with anything.

When my dad got sick, he was diagnosed with ALS, I just didn't -- nothing felt real.

I felt really disconnected.

And I took a photography class for the first time.

And I just remember taking these photos.

They were black-and-white tracks.

You know, no digital.

You know, just analog 35-millimeter pictures.

And when I looked at them coming up, you know, appearing from the printing, you know, the liquid-y -- you know, like you see in the movies, with the red light, I saw them appearing, and I saw these -- I remember seeing these eyes.

And it was a woman I had taken a picture of.

And she just had this look.

She was so tough, but she had a look of vulnerability in her eyes that I didn't even know was captured.

And I saw that, and it just -- it felt so right, and it felt like a sense of relief, almost.

It was like it unloaded something for me, even though I was capturing someone else in this photograph.

And then even the smell of the room and the chemicals and stuff, which is this terrible smell, became comforting to me because I loved what I was doing and I loved creating these images.

And then I did experimental things with them.

I did a lot of self-portrait work.

There were just some that felt really special, and they weren't particularly amazing photographs.

But then I realized, it doesn't matter how great the photograph is.

It doesn't matter if anybody else loves them.

For me, it was about the process.

Photography helped me feel present, because when I was looking through the lens, I could just -- I could connect with this one spot, this one, you know, image through -- through the lens.

And that helped me be more present when the depression and anxiety and the overwhelmingness of life were taking over.

When I had my first child, I had very severe postpartum depression, and I just dipped really low.

And I had a lot of treatment, a lot of medications, pretty much almost everything you could try.

And photography was one of the biggest things that helped me to heal from postpartum depression and just -- just this heavy deepness.

And it's not a cure, but it was very helpful.

Once I started taking these pictures and I realized how therapeutic it was, I decided I wanted to maybe make a blog anonymously.

So I started a website, and I just -- I made a call-out if anyone wanted to share their work, as well as mine, that they were welcome to send it.

And I would post it so that they should send photos that either were expressions of what they were going through or things that they like that expressed it, whether it's about the experience or the finished product -- it didn't really matter -- because it could help someone and it could help you.

It could help you by sharing your work.

It could also help someone else by sharing your work.

So that was what became my mission.

We've also done photography, art galleries, gallery exhibits, in-person gallery exhibits in New York City and L.A. and a few other places.

And I've done speaking at colleges and at schools, in middle school, to help people understand the potential that art and photography have to change your life and that it can be -- Even in one moment, one piece of art, one photograph that you take can help you just get to that next moment.

That's all.

It can be just one moment and one click of the lens or your phone is just what it takes to get you to stop and breathe and be present.

It's pretty amazing.

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