Audra Osborne is a photographer and crafter living in Portland, Oregon. Her work stems from the often debilitating emotions that she, along with many others, feels on a daily basis. These thoughts typically center around anxiety, depression, and loss. While her photographs act as a visual diary and study of these emotions, they also serve as a remedy. These images have created a space for herself and others to discuss these “taboo” topics on an open platform. This self-enforced openness has granted her stronger control of anxiety and its effects on her life.
Audra earned a BFA in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2011. In addition to her personal work, she is currently collaborating on projects with a group of 6 other female photographers under the name Small Talk Collective.
Avalanche
Anxiety, like an avalanche, builds and builds until one tiny disturbance causes the whole mass to come crashing down. Keeping this mass at bay is something I struggle with every day. “Avalanche” is an introspective view of my anxiety and how it affects my life and my relationships with the people around me. I sought to capture the subtle and quiet ways in which it manifests while suggesting the complex and very real emotions brought on by my disorder.
In “Avalanche”, I created visual relationships with nature and the human form. While these connections seem genuine, one can’t help but notice a sense of strangeness, tension, and apprehension. This is how anxiety plays its part in my life; a facade of normalness covering layers and layers of stress, seclusion, and exhaustion. I know that this is a part of who I am and who I will always be, but resigning myself to this fact is much different than understanding it. I hope that by continuing to document my forms of anxiety, I will better comprehend the relationships between trigger and panic – beyond symptoms and treatments.
To view more of Audra’s work please visit her website.