We recently connected with Juliane Gulla and have shared our conversation below.

Juliane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I’ve had a career in healthcare for the past two decades. I’m currently still working as a nurse two days a week so I can pay the bills, but the rest of my time is now spent elevating my craft and artistry and working on my photo project for mental health awareness. I’m grateful that I’ve had the experience in healthcare, it’s taught me so much and in a way has helped prepare me for this project. It’s also given me financial stability in the meantime. One thing it hasn’t ever done is spark my passion. Making the decision to focus on being an artist and to use that to advocate for mental health brings me so much joy. I’ve never felt more certain or excited to follow a path. I’ve always heard the phrase “Do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I never understood that, until now. Even when I was focused on trying to make photography a “career” I didn’t really understand it, because it all still felt like work. Now, I get it. I’m taking two things I’m incredibly passionate about, photography and mental health, and combining them to create something bigger. It’s certainly not a regular job, even in the realm of photography, but for the first time in my life I’m not questioning the direction I’m going. I still have a lot to figure out, especially financially, but I’m trusting the process and know I’ll get to the point I can fully walk away from the regular job. The best part, while it does entail a lot of challenges, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s been a lot of fun.

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?

I’ve loved the arts since I was a kid. I spent a lot of time drawing and learning the cello. In my late teens I started picking up photography. At the time it didn’t occur to me to pursue it as a career, instead I took another route, in healthcare. I always continued doing photography on the side. I found I loved capturing musicians in action and connecting with people while taking their portraits. There was something about seeing the spectrum of emotions and vulnerability and freezing them in a moment of time. I slowly started entertaining the idea of making the switch to becoming a professional photographer.

Going in to 2020 I told myself that this was the year I’d finally commit to making the transition from healthcare to photography. Needless to say, 2020 did not go how anyone anticipated. Working as a nurse during the pandemic was brutal. I completely put photography on hold. I needed to use my energy to make sure I stayed physically and mentally strong. Not to mention, the photography industry (amongst so many others) was at a standstill. As we got over the hump of the pandemic and things were looking hopeful again, I found myself in a predicament. I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue a career in photography anymore. I even threw away all my business cards and deleted my photography website and socials. I knew I wanted out of healthcare ASAP and I knew I still loved photography. I was incredibly confused. One day I remembered and idea for a photo project I had years ago. It involved using photography to help bring more awareness and understanding to mental health issues. I had put the idea on the back burner. I told myself I’d do it as a side passion project once I was an established photographer, Little did I know that that idea had no intention of being a side piece. It wanted to be at the forefront.

I decided to follow my intuition and Projekt Grace was born. Mental health has always been something I’ve been incredibly passionate about. I’ve had a lot of people in my life struggle with mental health issues and I’ve seen how many people struggle with it in my career in healthcare. In addition, the pandemic affected every single one of us. This project knew it was its time. I’m incredibly excited to be using photography and art to help people tell their stories, to help others gain a better understanding, and to lessen the stigma surrounding mental health. Art is such a powerful way to connect people on a deeper level. It has a way of conveying messages that can’t always be spoken.

In short, I’ll be interviewing subjects with differing mental health diagnoses and from differing backgrounds, then creating contrasting portraits to visually share their journey and struggles with others. My hope is that it will be a therapeutic process for those I’m working with and an educational journey for those that will be viewing the gallery/book. A more detailed description can be found on the website http://www.projektgrace.org.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

For the longest time I searched for the answer to “What’s your why?” when it came to my photography. It took me a while to decide what type of photography I wanted to focus on. I loved music photography but heard it wasn’t very lucrative. Then I thought about fashion, but that industry didn’t really seem aligned with who I was. I came back around to music and in general realized I loved capturing other creatives. But it still didn’t fully answer the question why? I love music, I love how expressive creatives are and how vulnerable they are capable of being. Why did I want to create these images? Once I started focusing on this project it all became much clearer. I care deeply for people. We are all living a human experience and that can entail a lot of pain and suffering. Often times people feel they are alone in their struggle, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We are all trying to figure it out. We are not always as different as we think we are. I want to show people they aren’t alone, I want to show that we are all so much more connected than we think we are. I know there’s been so much chaos the last few years, but I truly believe that we are capable of creating a better world, we just have to do it together. I hope that what I’m doing can help people see a better future too.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Hands down, connecting with people. One of my favorite parts of capturing photos is watching people start to let their guard down and become more confident in front of the camera. Seeing people look at their images and finding more love and acceptance for themselves is incredibly rewarding.

As far as this Projekt Grace specifically, I’ve had some very deep conversations with not only subjects for the project, but random people I’ve told about the project. I’ve had several people open up to me about their own struggles or struggles of friends/family. A few conversations included tears and hugs. What can be more rewarding than being able to be present for someone and maybe helping them feel seen?

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.projektgrace.org
• Instagram: @projektgrace
• Twitter: @projektgrace
• Other: For anyone that wants to see some of my work not related to my project, check out @juliane_photo

Image Credits
Juliane Gulla