Weathered is asking families to produce memorialized photographs of shoes and mementos belonging to loved ones who have lost their lives to an overdose. Weathered sets out to raise awareness for overdose death and funds for Street Health's Overdose Prevention Site.
All photograph submissions will be accepted (June 1st - July 6th, 2020). We encourage everyone, regardless of skill level, to submit a memorialized photograph with a written description about their loved one.
Opioids can shut down the brain’s respiratory center in a matter of minutes—just enough time for a trained professional to administer naloxone.
Overdose Prevention Sites (OPS) save lives, offering a clean, safe environment in which people can inject drugs they have purchased elsewhere under the supervision of staff.
In addition to taking select photographs for Weathered, Jessica will be mentoring families through the process of taking their own photographs through the production of a PDF 'how-to guide' and three video call support sessions.
Jessica's conceptual work revolves around feelings of isolation and mental health, where her subjects faces are often omitted or hidden. Jessica Okonski believes in the power of an image, and how entire narratives, paragraphs and conversations can be drawn from a single, thoughtful composition.
The goal of Weathered is bring awareness to the growing number of National overdose deaths and to raise funds for Street Health's Overdose Prevention Site.
Street Health’s Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) opened in June 2018 as a response to the increased level of overdoses in the Sherbourne and Dundas area of Toronto. This region had the second highest number of calls related to drug overdoses.
In March 2019, the Ontario Government abruptly ended funding for this OPS, even as spikes in overdoses have been a regular occurrence due to the poisoned street drug supply. Fortunately community donors have supported the continued operation of the OPS since this defunding. Street Health has funding in place for the OPS to operate to March 31, 2021 and is actively looking for funding to maintain this life saving service.
Street Health continues to explore every option because the need has not stopped. In 2019/20 the OPS supported over 3,000 client visits and reversed over 50 overdoses. This site is a resource for the community with over 600 referrals to other healthcare services being made annually, a vital support to those who rely on this service.
To submit a photograph to be included in the Weathered campaign, please e-mail the following to
+ A high-quality photograph of your loved ones shoes and important mementos as a .jpeg
+ A written description about the image, your loved one, your favourite story about them, anything you want us to know
We encourage participants to only share information they feel comfortable being included in the fundraising campaign and on a public digital platform.
SUPPORT
Do you have questions about your photograph? How to get the best results? Artistic lead and mentor Jessica Okonski is providing three video-call mentorship sessions on Jitsi on the following dates:
Sunday, June 7th x 1:00PM (EST)
Room name: "WeatheredPhotographyJune72020"
Wednesday, June 17th x 1:00PM (EST)
Room name: "WeatheredPhotographyJune172020"
Friday, June 26th x 1:00PM (EST)
Room name: "WeatheredPhotographyJune262020"
To join, visit Jitsi and type the room name for the selected date in the search bar and click GO. No download necessary.
JESSICA OKONSKI'S
PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE
This PDF was created with the intention of guiding people with varying skills levels and minimal resources through the process of taking striking, high-quality photographs at home.