Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2018-2019 | Page 29

S
andra Boyd focuses her lens, checks
the lighting and considers the best
angle to capture the personality of
each animal she photographs. She
enjoys volunteering her time to snap pho-
tos of dogs and cats at the animal shelter
in Grass Valley.
As a U.S. Army veteran, Boyd par-
ticipated in the inaugural Image Nation
program in Nevada County, where she
learned photography skills as a method of
self-expression.
Image Nation is a joint project be-
tween the Nevada County Arts Council
and Welcome Home Vets, a nonprofit that
provides veterans with mental health ser-
vices, counseling, advocacy and referrals
at no cost. The program is built on a phi-
losophy that sharing experiences through
self-expression helps veterans cope with
their military service in a meaningful way.
“The program allowed me to come to
grips with being a veteran,” Boyd says. “I
felt shame for years about having been in
the military, especially as a woman. We
were not welcomed home kindly in the
post-Vietnam [War] era.”
Award-winning photographer Mi-
chael Llewellyn runs the program, which
launched in September 2015. Before be-
coming an artist-in-residence for the Ne-
vada County Arts Council, he worked for
22 years as a national print media photog-
rapher.
“We have two goals with Image Nation,”
Llewellyn says. “We want to engage with
veterans and expose the nonmilitary pub-
lic to vets’ issues.”
Over the course of 12 workshops, vet-
erans learn to operate either a camera or
a camera phone, and receive tips about
composition, lighting, settings and more.
Llewellyn encourages students to pho-
tograph what is important to them and
to think deeply about meaning. He says
when people confront meaning, feelings
come to the surface.
“We have two goals
with Image Nation. We
want to engage with
veterans and expose
the nonmilitary public
to vets’ issues.”
— Michael Llewellyn, artistic director and
educator, Image Nation
“It is very satisfying to see people go
through significant transformations —
technical and emotional,” Llewellyn
says. “Through self-expression, they learn
something new about their lives. They
learn, and then they inspire other stu-
dents to dig as deeply as possible. It can
become therapeutic.”
Llewellyn says each student devel-
ops an individual subject of work, which

is beneficial because it allows the public
to see the humanity of veterans through
their photos.
Tammy Becker serves as the board
chair of Welcome Home Vets, and works
with veterans and family members to un-
derstand post-traumatic stress disorder,
anxiety and trauma.
“A unique benefit of Image Nation is
that it helps veterans not feel so isolated,”
Becker says. “It provides a sense of cama-
raderie. Some veterans keep things bot-
tled up, never even telling their spouses.
It’s important to be around others who
know what you’re feeling, to have a safe
path for connectedness. PTSD can’t be
‘cured,’ but tools like Image Nation can
help vets cope to live full lives,” she says.
Becker says veterans often struggle to
talk about PTSD, so many prefer nonver-
bal creative expression, such as writing
songs or photography.
“Many vets saw traumatic things
in combat or have survivor’s guilt.
Some try to shove their feelings
into a box and keep the lid on,” says
Becker. “The Image Nation pro-
gram helps them express these feel-
ings.” n
Trish Moratto Litke is a communica-
tions consultant who specializes in
public relations, social media strategy,
copywriting and journalism. She is an
outdoor enthusiast and avid traveler,
which has taken her to more than 40
countries. She is based among the pine
trees in Grass Valley.
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