A return to shooting film

Recently I joined my friend Kate for a lazy 10am breakfast, loaded some Kodak Portra 400 film in my camera and set off along the beautiful Manly to Shelly Beach walk.

It had been 5 years since I shot film and I was a little nervous about the results. It's so easy to shoot 50 photos when I've got my digital camera, so limiting myself to 36 frames was a fun challenge.

I found myself slowing down and second guessing about a composition. Film seems to heighten your presence in the moment since you're never looking at the back of your camera. I guess it just feels more precious. Here are my favourites from that first roll.

Mitchell Isakka - Nurse

Mr. Isakka, can you describe what you do for a living?

I’m an intensive care nurse. I look after people in the specialities, neurology and trauma section which means that I see a lot of people from various sudden accidents. Quite often patients are in a coma and on life support so there is little nurse to patient communication.

Did you wish to work in the trauma section or is that just the way it worked out for you?

I did a critical care placement during University in intensive care and neurology trauma. I found it quite intellectually stimulating because you have really got to apply the knowledge you learned so quickly and accurately. I didn’t find working in the wards to be as stimulating.

So the challenge of fast paced problem solving drew you to it. Do you enjoy and thrive on that stress on some level?

Yes, anything can go wrong at any second without warning. Working under pressure, problem solving and then inevitably seeing the outcome, which hopefully is positive, gives me the feeling that I did something worthwhile.

I think sometimes a career chooses you rather than you choosing it, perhaps that’s what happened there. Can you remember the moment when you knew you wanted to be a nurse?

When I finished high school I knew I wanted to get into medicine. I applied for undergrad medicine but didn’t get it so I thought I’d undertake something related. My cousin is a nurse practitioner and talked to me about her work. I thought I’d try that and then move onto medicine but since working in the field I realised that is not what I am destined to do.

How long have you been at your hospital now?

Over two and a half years I have worked in drug and alcohol out patients and half intensive care. You see some pretty interesting people and have to deal with situations that you don’t ordinarily encounter. The next chapter is that I will be working in Broome, Western Australia.

Were you transferred to Broome or was that something you specifically volunteered for?

I’m very fortunate to have travelled to around fifteen destinations in the world now. I travelled through India and Nepal, I saw a lot of sick people affected by polio and really underprivileged people and thought as a nurse that it would be great to treat them. I returned from the last trip and spoke to my G.P. friend who has done a lot of work in aboriginal and remote communities in Australia. Through his experiences he believes that a lot of people forget about problems we have in our own country and instead focus on overseas without realising how bad it is for people in isolated areas of Australia.

I applied for a position in remote Northern Territory and then a position came up for an opening of an intensive care unit in Broome hospital.

I suppose it happened a lot faster than you expected. Were you shocked by how quickly you had to leave your life is Sydney behind?

I have always wanted to move away, do something different and take a chance. I have looked into doing things like that before overseas but with the case of this, I applied on the Saturday, was interviewed on the Monday and Wednesday then 15 minutes after the interview they called to say I had the job! It’s just weird thinking that finally now it’s happening, I am doing this thing that I thought I would do eventually but it turns out that the time is now. It’s scary but exciting at the same time. As for the next step, I’ll be saving to get myself overseas long term in either Paris or Helsinki.

Considering you work in the trauma unit, did you struggle when things didn’t go to plan? Do you have a method that helps you cope emotionally now?

It was tough in the beginning. First of all you become desensitised a little bit. You have to develop the skill to be able to switch on and switch off. I must be supportive and emotional for the patient’s family yet not too emotional that it affects my work and life outside work.

I think the most important thing is to have someone who you can vent to. I lived with two nurses in the past and that was good because they understood yet worked in different sections so the stories were always different.

I bought a piano a year ago thinking that I’d like to get back into it. I hoped that as soon as I sat down, it would come back to me but it didn’t happen that easily. Sometimes I spend time around the piano with friends so it’s great to just hang around and listen. We don’t have a TV in the house, I think it’s nice when you’re kind of forced to talk to each other.

That’s interesting, I noticed that a lot of my friends don’t watch as much TV anymore. Hopefully instead of watching reality TV, we’re living our lives instead.

You spoke earlier about your desire to travel; do you have an idea of what your perfect happiness is?

I’m not sure if I am thinking about it too philosophically or not but my thoughts of true happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. I also believe that is it important to be able to feel sad. People get caught up on feeling like they always need to be happy and if they are sad then something is wrong, but I think they can exist together.

Absolutely. I don’t believe that people are meant to or can be happy all the time. Humans have a range of emotions. You can’t be 100% of just one emotion all the time.

Yes, there’s a book called The happiness trap by Russ Harris which compares the eastern and western world’s ways of thinking about happiness. The eastern idea of happiness is that is encompasses sadness as well. They see it as a good thing because it’s a part of life, for example death or mourning. It is therefore understood and embraced, in a way. Whereas the western world tries to reduce it as much as possible and almost makes it feel like a taboo or suppressed subject.

Do you have a favourite book or author?

Running with scissors by Augusten Burroughs is an incredible book. There’s a movie but it’s really bad so don’t watch it. Also, Haruki Murakami’s books are wonderful.

If you could change something about yourself what would it be?

My teeth or my bank account balance. Laughs.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Shoes! I don’t know what it is, but I’ll go out looking for trousers and come back with two pairs of shoes. Before I went overseas last year I did a cull because I had about thirty pairs but now I’m down to fifteen.

What talent would you most like to have?

I’d love to be able to sail. I met a guy who sailed a boat from Miami to Iceland. An Icelandic man bought the boat from him so he had to sail it to him. I would sail to Iceland!

What is your most marked characteristic?

At the moment it’s my new moustache.

What is your most treasured possession? 

My toy poodle, Rory.

Thank you for your time Mitchell.

Photographs and interview by Jason de Plater.

Lucy Arnott - Art Therapist

Can you describe for me what you do for a living?

I help people keep their empowerment. With my community care job, the idea is to keep people in their homes so they still maintain a sense of independence rather than go into a nursing home and lose their spirit.

With art therapy, I help people to understand themselves better. I try to figure out where they want to go in their lives and unlock things that are holding them back. Basically, I just want to help people be happy.

You’re helping people overcome their personal challenges. I suppose everyone needs help at different points in their lives. Who is a typical client for you?

They tend to be mostly elderly. Some of the people with chronic illness such as cancer are often younger but I have a lot of clients with dementia too. Some people are really old and their minds are completely on the ball but their bodies are falling apart. They need help showering or just someone to help them do their shopping.

So your caring extends to not just the mind, but it encompasses the body as well.

Yes, it’s a holistic approach. So all the tools that I have are about working with the person to determine what they need in their current state of mind.

What moment of the job do you find most rewarding?

I have realised that it doesn’t matter what age somebody is; everyone has their own spirit. There’s a spark that everybody has regardless of their age or sickness.

The people I work with are towards the end of their lives so there is a lot of reflection and insight into how a good life can be lived. That’s an amazing thing to share with people.

Absolutely, it’s definitely a privileged job in that respect. Have you always wanted to be an art therapist, or did it take you a while to find that path?

Well over the last five or six years, I have looked into alternative medicine and psychology, natural medicine and art therapy towards the end of my exploration. I knew that I always wanted to be able to help people out. I wanted something on the spiritual side and to remain very grounded and realistic.

I also wanted to do something where I could meet people, regardless or where they were at physically or mentally. I found that art therapy fit because I paint and am quite creative. I find those things really healing for myself too.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Completing my studies last year in transpersonal counseling art therapy. That was a two-year course but it was a big journey. I have never been very studious. I pick things up and don’t finish them so that was something I was really happy to have completed.

Well done! What forms of expression do you use with your art therapy?

We paint, draw, make collages, and meditate.

We spend time talking to the body. Sometimes the mind can trick us. It can make up a whole lot of stories and give us a really hard time. So I use meditation to help people calm down and get grounded. Guided visualisations can help people access different parts of themselves in their internal world rather than external.

A lot of the different processes do different things. I might have a client who is a bit scattered and doesn’t know what they’re doing in their life. I can suggest to complete a collage so they can visually see the story that has come from their sub conscious.

Then we can have a dialogue where I ask them questions like “What does that mean?”, “Why did you put that word next to that one”, or “Does that remind you of something?”, It creates a story and it becomes really, really simple. Best of all, it comes from them.

I can’t tell people who they need to be or how to feel. So it’s all about figuring it out for themselves.

How often do you usually see your clients?

Well I’ve been doing art therapy groups at a community centre. I think in terms of groups, it’s good to do a four-session group because then you have a thread and you can go deeper. If you’re going through something challenging it’s good to see someone for four to six sessions so you can get a good view of what is happening. 

Obviously you place a big importance on keeping things grounded but you also love to travel. Do you find that you’re at your happiest when meeting new people and discovering new places?

Absolutely. I love traveling. I think there is something inside me that is never satisfied. That part drives me to have really ‘out there’ experiences. So travel means that there is always something new for me; new places, people and food. I really love new cultures and indigenous communities.

My happiness comes down to being with the people I love and living near the ocean.

What is your favourite journey?

I try to go away once a year, at least. I have been traveling for the last seven years. The first trip I went away for about a year, and then every trip since has been a few months at a time. I have probably been to between 15 and 20 countries. Each of them very different; throughout Europe, Southeast Asia, four months in India, Indo four times, America, South America twice.

India was amazing. People told me that I needed to surrender when I went to India. I didn’t quite understand what that meant until I went there. You either love or hate it but it changes your life. It definitely changes your mind. There’s nothing that compares to that reality over there. It’s really amazing.

Is there a particular story or unforgettable moment from India that you can share?

I guess what happens is that you learn a lot of lessons about yourself. The reason it changes your life is that it can change things that you might be really fixed on and the way you see the world. I have always been a bit hard on myself, which comes back to the never satisfied statement earlier, so I have high expectations.

Listen to Lucy’s epiphany that occurred on a train journey in India.

We are pretty lucky to be living in Sydney. It sounds like the places you have traveled to break down a lot of misconceptions. Colombia for example, we tend to only hear about the danger and drugs but there is obviously a lot of beauty there as well. 

Absolutely. There’s beauty, passion, culture and people dancing in the street on a Sunday night because that’s what they do every week in their community. I really like Sydney but I think traveling has helped me create who I want to be in my own mind. It breaks down barriers of what society or my family has put onto me.

Yes, it makes you question what is “normal”. If you lived outside of Sydney, where would it be? Is it a goal of yours to live overseas?

I don’t really feel like Sydney is home because I have only lived here for about five years.

I grew up on the mid north coast. My Dad passed away three and a half years ago and I inherited a little house up there that he built. So I can always live there, but I’ve always seen myself in one or two places: northern New South Wales, or somewhere overseas. I need somewhere warm, near the ocean and room for a big vegetable garden.

Since I was a little girl I have always wanted to live in Bali. I have just returned again. There’s something really magical about it. I don’t think I’d want to live there permanently but it keeps drawing me back.

I definitely don’t want to live the city life. I want to have kids and would rather them be able to run around outside without me being worried that they’ve going to get flattened by a car.

You have talked about the amazing experiences you have had overseas, have you got a story about a time when things weren’t so amazing?

Listen to Lucy’s dangerous experience in Colombia.

Would you travel by yourself or do you think that the experience is greater when shared with someone else? 

For me, I’m a people person although I do like time on my own to reflect. I have found that I learn a lot about myself while I am surrounded by other people. I went to South America two years ago, I was in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. I was on my own for about three months and found it really hard. I was going through a hard time and realised that happiness is best when shared.

I have made some of my very best friends overseas. One friend I met in India, she’s English, and now she lives in Colombia. I went and visited her last year and we are like soul mates now. So I’ve met really, really great people traveling.

What do you think is your most marked characteristic?

Probably my long curly hair. When I was traveling through Europe, I had hair like this and turned it into dreadlocks. So I had dreadlocks for a year and a half and came back from overseas with a tattoo as well. My Dad was a little bit disappointed but he was supportive.Laughs. I cut my dreads off a year and a half later.

What is your most treasured possession?

Well I’m not very materialistic but that would have to be my car. I have a 1964 EH Holden, which I have spent way too much money on. Her name is Axel Annie and all my friends ask about her. She has a personality. Laughs.

Listen to Lucy's impromptu performance of her original song “Everything you needed”.

Thank you for your time Lucy.

Photographs and interview by Jason de Plater.