Quiet Shouts, ©2022 Linda Perry, All rights reserved, including internet, International, and electronic recording rights. No copies without prior written permission from author Linda Perry.

How do you shout quietly? How do you quietly say to the world, to anyone in the world, ‘Notice me; Someone is bullying me. They won’t leave me alone. They won’t let me be’. ? Everyone has their own technique. Like the guy on television says, ‘”There are a million stories in this naked city “…

In my life, someone ‘trained me, using some milder brainwashing techniques, to be quiet, to not say words out loud, to not tell anyone’. Since I believed that I should ‘tell’, yet most times, I was too afraid of the consequences of telling, I was quiet about being bullied but I wanted to show the bully that they would never fully silence me. Putting myself on film, on television, in videos, in ‘still’ photography, were some of the ways of the ways that I ‘just said, ‘No’ to the bully.

For me, over decades, I have created various types of ‘invisible’ and ordinary ‘selfies’. Many of the selfies I took in times that I felt like a prisoner because someone was bullying me.

It was in those early, and some later selfie pictures, that I, as an independent photojournalist documented the part of my life that may have been invisible to the public. This was my way of saying to the bully, ‘my God is stronger than your anger towards me. I refuse to remain invisible. I remain happy and safe, and participating in life in my own way”.

What’s In The Invisibles?

My selfies are shadows, mirrored reflections in mirrors, shiny surfaces, in various places where my image is not usually noticed as a normal selfie would be quickly noticed. I did not want to be the center of attention inside the photo but I did want to let the viewer know that I took that picture; I was there, in that moment. In some of those photos, I am more easily visible than in others. Depending on location, sometimes in geographical proximity of the perp. sometimes miles or hundreds of miles away, the selfie would change. And, as life has it, everything changes, except the love, protection and strength if my God, and so over decades, my reasons, for continuing to be invisible in my pictures, changes also.

Finding the Safe Places..

Education in buildings is wonderful, necessary and very useful. And besides regular schooling, I found life experience, observation and learning from other people’s mistakes, to be another very important part of a person’s education. All these combined can help you find amazing ways to live life, stay happy, safe and alive in the worst of times.

During my observation and life-experience times, I accidentally discovered that being in front of the camera, being in the presence of any recording equipment could keep me safe from the bully.

Most bullies and stalkers…

Most bullies and stalkers don’t like the tables turned on them. They don’t like being recorded. This makes sense. Who would want to be stifled? Cameras and video recording equipment expose bullies for whom they really are. So, the equipment turns the tables on the bully. When a bully or stalker sees the camera or recording device, they must make a choice, be civil – don’t bully or go away, don’t be present near any taping equipment.

And so, I discovered early that behind my camera, or behind any other visible equipment, was a good place to hide in plain sight.

As an independent photojournalist, I was safe from a bully who didn’t want their moments recorded. Finally, after decades, I am free from the bully. I am free, not through the bully’s choice, but free for other reasons. And, that’s a good thing, being free. That’s a great thing.

Healing, Recovering….

As you can imagine, the healing, recovering from that takes a long time. I am still in the of healing, growing and learning what freedom really means, what it is like to be free, free from abuse, free from bullying. This post is almost complete. I will be back to add the rest of the story. I took this selfie in part of New York City, in the United States of America.

To be continued…..