We were lucky to catch up with Christopher “Boats” Oshana recently and have shared our conversation below.
Christopher “Boats”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
In 2013 I was granted work space at the monOrchid, which was a collaborative work place, photo/video studio and gallery, to pursue a project “For the Good”, the project that I started and continue to work on is called PTSD, The Invisible Scar. The project consists of Veteran with diagnosed with PTS, whether they are male or female, white, black, Hispanic, regardless of their religious background. I have heard from numerous Veterans that I have interviewed or even just talked to about the project that they would rather talk to someone that has “been there, done that”. It is hard to explain to a civilian today what Veterans have lost once they are no longer in the service, by comparing the numbers of Americans that are Veteran from WW II era 12 million, Vietnam 3.5 million and today it is (less than 1%) approximately 1.4 million (per Pew Research Center). Our Veterans have lost what most civilians cannot understand, the camaraderie, the looking out for each other, the being told they made a mistake and not getting their feelings hurt.
I do this project because my “Brothers and Sisters” need that person that understands, standing out in the pouring rain on guard duty is important, cleaning and polishing the brass means something, making your bed and putting away thing in your rack (bed/dresser) has its reasons, making sure your buddy gets home after a night on the town, even if you do not like them. It is the like mindedness and common goals that are greater than one’s self. So, with that being said, once the service member leaves the military, they have nothing, they feel alone, their anxiety rises, and they start to making poor decisions…
Why do I do this project, it is not for the fame or the money, it is for my Brothers and Sisters that want to leave those memories and triggers behind. After being awarded the grant, the owner of the monOrchid and I were having some small talk, I told him that I was a member of the VFW and VFW Rider which he suggested I photo wounded warriors. I truly don’t want to sound trite but everyone knows what they look like with the burn scars, the shrapnel scars, the missing limbs and the list can go on, but it is the invisible scar PTS that you don’t see, Veterans with PTS look like you and I for the most part. Yes, they can also look like the aforementioned but most look like us.
These are the men and women suffer in silence. They constantly sit facing an exit. They are always looking for their escape route. They feel alienated by society. They don’t feel safe once they come back, I want them to feel that safety. I want them to be able to talk in an environment that they feel comfortable and be able to talk to someone that has “been there”. No, I don’t have the degree as a therapist, psychologist or anything like that. I know one thing, I will not judge them and I will listen to them. We have a suicide rate 20+ per day and veterans are two times more likely to commit suicide.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well, here is the story of me, I am a father of five, a widow, a US Navy Veteran (1984-2004), Department of Defense Employee for the U. S. Army Recruiting, and photographer. My greatest inspiration is life and what it has to offer. I started taking photos when I enlisted in the U. S. Navy, but I was never able to truly pursue my passion because of my time in the service. After I retired from active duty, I picked up the camera again, and it was a photo of one of my twin daughters, in 2006 that reignited the passion. I used my Post 911 GI Bill benefits to go to college to pursue my photography degree and as I was sitting in my Art Marketing class, in 2013, an amazing opportunity to put in for a grant at the monOrchid, which was a coworking/studio space, came up in class, so I did. I was awarded the grant! The grant had to be a project “for the good”, I needed to give back and challenge myself with a project, I was participating in a lot of events in the Veteran community, and it was suggested that I photograph wounded warriors. I thought long and hard and it came to me that they had a spotlight on them at the time and the public knew what a wounded warrior looked like. But it was the warriors, that are visually in one piece but are really fighting for their lives daily. Those are the ones with PTSD. PTSD plays havoc of the warrior, whether they are having nightmares, anger issues, depression or other issues relating to it. These warriors have seen something that they cannot shake. I have been now working on that same project “PTSD, The Invisible Scar” for ten years, having a one-on-one, private interview and taking their photo as we talk about there feeling, issues and my list could go on.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Great question, in late 2019 my late wife was diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer and along with COVID both had me reconsider what I was doing and had to put photography on the back burner. We had thought the cancer was getting better and had the opportunity to be a production assistant for a filming of Naked and Afraid here in Arizona so I jumped at that chance. I got back to finding out that the medications were not doing what they were supposed to be doing, again everything went to the back burner. In January/February timeframe my was asked to participate in a trail treatment for her cancer in Tucson, so we made the weekly trips in hopes it would work. We had some ups and down with the trail and finally it stopped working. In March of 2021 she was forced to retire from teaching and I started to have to be more of a caregiver in the afternoons and evenings, things were not going the greatest, in late December 2021 she passed. It took me months of grieving, ensuring our twin graduated from high school and to learn how to be an adult in 2022, during our 22 year marriage she took care of all the bills and the house. While I took care of the outside she took care of the inside. In March of 2022 we had gone to her favorite beach, San Onofre, to spread half of her ashes, while there a very good friend of mine and I got together for coffee at a local donut shop, we talked for hours. My friend also puts on one of the best by invitation only art shows here in the Valley, we have known each other for close to 10 years, he asked why I haven’t ever been in the show, I was never asked I had told him. “Well would you like to be in the show?” So that made me get out and truly start to look at the wonders around me.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to share Arizona with others and to be able to help my fellow Veterans with share their stories of Post Traumatic Stress. Most of all to be able to be myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ptsdtheinvisiblescar.myportfolio.com/ptsd-the-invisible-scar
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopheroshana/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.b.oshana/
- Other: https://oshanadigitalproductions.smugmug.com