Derrick McKissack stands on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, trumpet in hand. In this photograph, he has a smile on his face. You can practically see the kindness in his eyes. This portrait of McKissack is part of a new collaborative project led by photographer Dan Heller of DZH Photo.
“Everywhere we set up and each step along the way, Derrick made people smile,” Heller says. “We wanted to capture his love of being on the bridge, around people with his trumpet, but also a more serious side.”
McKissack will appear alongside 15 others in SEEN: Portraits of Recovery. A collaboration between Heller and Sexual Assault Center — a Nashville-based nonprofit that helps individuals “overcome the effects of sexual assault” — SEEN is a collection of portraits and stories from survivors of sexual assault. They are musicians, actors, therapists, partners, parents and more. The photographs are varied, but the common thread is each survivor’s ability to choose their representation in the work: to reclaim the narrative. This, says Heller, was the point of the project.
“I wanted to recognize this need — that people need to be seen in the way they see themselves, as opposed to constantly being defined by others or the media,” he says.
Each participant worked with Heller to choose framing, location, clothing and sometimes significant objects to include in the portrait. Most importantly, the survivors chose how they wanted their stories to be told.
The photos themselves are striking. Some participants chose to be photographed with their partners. One individual revisited the spot on Murfreesboro Pike where she was initially trafficked, an event that led to a seven-year cycle of abuse. Another survivor holds a photograph of himself as a child — it’s been torn in pieces, then taped back together. One woman wears a Wonder Woman costume. Another is shown writing a letter.
SEEN offers an honest look into the process of recovery, which is anything but linear. Heller says many individuals he photographed have found an “unexpected power or catharsis” from the portraits.
Singer-songwriter Lindsay Ell, whose song “Make You” tells her story of surviving assault, is one of the project’s participants. For her portrait, Ell chose to return to the location of her assault for the first time in 10 years. “Everything in my brain and my heart said I don’t want to go back there,” Ell says. “I used to take other side streets in that neighborhood so I wouldn’t have to physically drive past it. I was like, ‘It’s time — it’s time to go back there and to face it.’
“I remember standing there [10 years ago] and just feeling so dirty and so alone, and feeling like I had done something wrong — just feeling so much shame and guilt,” she continues. “And then to go back there years later and to be able to stand there in strength after I’ve been through so much therapy and healing, and now am using my story to do good. It was just a really beautiful, full-circle moment.”
SEEN will have an initial launch as part of Sexual Assault Center’s annual Mad Hatter fundraising event on Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. The virtual event will feature a short film about SEEN and SAC’s work, and viewers will be able to see the 16 main photos for the first time. After the event, the photos will be available for digital viewing on SEEN’s official website alongside stories and interviews from survivors. The project will also become a print book later this year, with 100 percent of its proceeds supporting SAC.
“Survivors define themselves on their own terms, not by one event, situation or media filter,” says Heller. “Simply being seen as a whole person was incredibly powerful and healing."
“Hopefully, these images will help inspire others to come forward, shed any feelings of shame and seek support.”
