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I’m not even sure if “therapy” is the right word for this really, mainly because I’m not a therapist. However, I’ve been told that my sessions are like therapy. From “Rock Your Ugly” to “Mowjood” I must have sat down with over 500 people, listened to their stories, and reflected those stories in a photograph of them. A photograph they can look back at and think “I remember when I was feeling this way.”
I’ve also heard back from many that those sessions helped them overcome or unlock something. Be it a rut they’d been stuck in or a decision they were afraid to make. Whatever it was, it moved them forward.
Both projects that allowed me to do that are now over (Rock Your Ugly and Mowjood) just because their purpose in my personal journey has passed, but I’d still like to connect with people and contribute to their journeys.
So here comes the new “Therapy Session” where we dig deep into our pasts, traumas, and insecurities together with the purpose of seeing how these feelings physically manifest in our bodies. So we can look back at these photographs and think, “I remember that feeling” or “I never realized what that feeling actually looks like, let’s work on overcoming that.”
So I’d like to invite you over for a cup of tea, meditation, burning incense, and an honest human connection. I invite you to be open and to be free of judgment. I invite you to let your mind and body flow into whatever comes in the form of laughter, tears, or screams.
May your soul heal…
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Testimonials
I am small, a little girl, but here I am trapped in a grown body, I feel 8, not 34, but I felt 40 at 12… I am small, and I need soothing and love, I go outside and all I can see is the forest across the valley from my house, I go climb the hill until I find myself in the forest, I lay down on my back, barefoot, I look at the perfectly blue sky and I’m listening to the light sound of leaves that move around on the tree’s crown, I’m grounded, I don’t know I’m grounding, I learn years later what I’m doing and how I’ve let the earth and nature embrace me and soothe the pain I’m going through…
Nature was the only one that could soothe my pain, soaking in all that was, away. It has been my alley in moments of hard grief and numbness, when there was nobody around I would curl in a ball and lay low as long as I could.
When there’s nobody around to acknowledge your pain, the suffering gets deeper, it cuts through stone and steel, and it festers in wounds that will ooze and bleed on everything you touch, and worse, when someone else is trying to clean and help that long painful hurt, you will scream in agony and won’t put yourself anywhere where you could be hurt again… it’s raw and real, and people can be unpredictable, so you’d rather make your own space and think 10 steps ahead before anyone could do any move to even come close to that.
I am curled in a ball, internally, but I am standing on my own two feet, I have been in a deep shock, I’ve lost my savings, but that’s not what hurts, I can still work my life out of me and still know how not to burn myself out… what hurts it’s the way I’ve been shattered into million pieces, someone who was ill-intended, had found my wound and kept pressing on that deep deep rotten callus, it looks thick on the surface, but it’s boiling inside and someone found the crack, the rupture within, and put a dagger with salt in it.
I am in shock, I am upset with myself, and I am operating in deep survival mode where no logical thinking takes place… I am upset with myself because I have been working for a while with a professional to find these wounds and clean them up and I’ve been blindsided by evil, I found myself in one of the deepest shocks I’ve been through and it resurfaced only when someone else brought it back to life…
But this time is different, I am embraced with help and understanding, I am offered care and support, I am given space to grief, I am listened to, I am held and brought back from my shock, and I am overwhelmed with love and protection, I am ashamed with my pain but nobody shames me for feeling how I feel or acting how I act.
It’s 2020, soon I’ll turn 30 and my life is in shambles, I’ve gone through summer with deep anxiety and fear, fear of losing my job, fear of losing myself, fear of having worked so hard for everything and not knowing where to go if all goes away…
I’m in the studio, I sit on the couch and look around at the work that has been done with other people, I’ve seen vulnerability that spoke more than words will ever do… I talk and talk, and talk for a long time, I’m given space and understanding, this feels like a therapy session, not a photo session, I cry like I’m small again and open up to a stranger that I’ve got to know through the work I’ve seen, raw and honest.
It’s been 4 years… I’m better than I’ve ever been, but then I’m not, I’m back again curled internally in a ball, I’m laying on the floor in the studio, I feel comfort, I reconnect with my body, I’m asked about my feelings, but all I feel is pain, lots of it, I utter “love”, I want to know love, unconditional, unjustified with no transactions, I keep my eyes closed and reconnect deeper with myself, I feel light and free…
Years to an end I’ve separated my mind from my body, heavy shocks would take endless time to repair and recover from, and pain and frustration would always linger in the background with every thought of it… but now, I needed a few days and I’m back on my feet, where did all that pain go? Where is the heaviness I’ve felt so bad? how come I feel so light?…
Black and white through pictures, as nature did as a little girl in colors of green and blue, rusty brown and faint yellow, I’m embracing myself, accepting myself, my pain, my grief, I express it and live it and let it go away… I’m grounding and, this time, I know.
I thought I knew enough of myself. Accepted the past and lived my life the way the majority envied me. Nevertheless, the wounds I have still influence my decisions. I thought this was the way of power. When you bear the suffering means you are strong. Why am I so sad then? Why do my eyes look at you with pain and sadness? What’s wrong?
Take my hand and I will follow you. I trust you my feelings and my body. Be patient. I’m not used to showing the world that I am weak, that I don’t like smth. I don’t accept my body. I don’t accept my feelings. Disconnect me from the judgment and public opinion. Nothing matters except for us at this moment. Can’t look at you. I’m naked and vulnerable.
I cried though I couldn’t scream. I suffered though I couldn’t say to stop. As if I was punishing myself. Punishing for letting others hurt me, punishing me for hurting others.
Maybe I want to die right now to escape this journey.
I feel now weak and human. And you are my witness. You make me look at myself. You show the beauty in crying, in anger, in humility. I will be fine. I’m grateful. This journey is just the beginning.
I cannot express enough how grateful I am for this unique experience. It was a journey that allowed me to dive into my past, explore my emotions, and express myself in so many ways. Waleed created a safe and nurturing environment where I felt comfortable exploring my vulnerabilities and insecurities.
I was for the first time showing my stretch marks and scars to a camera and then he captured them in a way that highlighted their artistic beauty. It was a liberating feeling to showcase my imperfections and recognize their significance in shaping who I am today.
This therapy photography session was more than just a photoshoot, it was a transformative journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Through his Art, I was able to express myself in ways I never thought possible.
I am eternally grateful to Waleed for his compassion, talent, and unwavering support throughout this process. This therapy photography session has left an indelible mark on my life, empowering me to embrace my past, present, and future with newfound confidence and self-love
From my very first encounter with Waleed I felt calm and yet at the same time pushed out of my comfort zone. He is open and authentic which allowed me to feel comfortable enough to express myself freely early on after we first met.
He has an attentive and patient approach to pushing boundaries where they need to be pushed, enough to discover something that was previously felt but not fully understood or expressed.
If you find yourself in an uncomfortable repetitive pattern in your romantic relationship(s) or if you’re curious about intimacy, I would recommend spending an afternoon or two with Waleed.
“Waleed, I don’t think I could express the full gratitude I feel for our session. You made me feel seen, heard, and accepted. I’ve always struggled to see the beauty in my ugly moments and when I saw this picture I knew that it was beautiful and that I’d be happy to share it with the world. So thank you for empowering me!
The photography session is a therapy to dive deep inside yourself and see YOU for who you are. Waleed has a way of allowing you to be vulnerable and capture these moments. This is my third one on one session and I Love to see how I have changed and evolved over the last 3 years. Thank you Waleed for holding space!
The experience was much like a beautiful acid trip – transitioning seamlessly from movement to stillness, tears to laughter, moments of intensity to calm. Waleed’s artistic energy flows in and around you. He created a safe space for me to discover things about myself that I love and can learn to love.