More about Trupti
In 2002, I was working on a documentary about the Operation Landslide, the world’s largest online child pornography investigation. I was sent to Dallas on my own for 3 weeks, to research the story and secure relationships with the contributors to make the film before the rest of the crew joined me. We filmed with US Postal investigators, Dallas police department and the FBI to recreate scenes in which hundreds of potential paedophiles were arrested across 6 continents. I was in awe of the work these incredible people committed to and at the same time I was deeply affected by the stories of the survivors of child abuse. The scale of the operation blew my mind and I struggled with the idea that so many men (they were mostly men) from every social strata and every corner of the globe would buy child pornography online. When I returned to the UK shaken by my experiences I reached out for support from a counsellor and this was my first experience of talking therapy.
I am now a director of deep:black, www.deepblack.org.uk an arts organisation working with creativity to work with mental health for almost a decade. I develop partnership work to improve mental health outcomes for young people in schools, staff who support them and their families and carers. I am interested in how visual methodologies, in particular photography and film, can support emotional wellbeing by offering safe spaces for creative self-expression, connection, reflection and growth. I have designed a photography programme ‘Photographing Feelings’ for children and young people to explore experiences of violence, to reflect on isolation during the pandemic and experiences and to work with children from Black and Asian communities living with autism. Recently, I was commissioned to make a film with young people about school exclusions and the impact of trauma on children. The idea that the education system inflicts further harm on children already struggling makes me feel anger, grief and sadness and I am glad to have been able to have played a small roll in raising awareness about this social injustice.
I am passionate about learning from young people and supporting them to have a greater input into designing creative interventions that better respond to their needs. I am keen to share best practice, developing creative training for mental healthcare and education teams and social work trainees.
I deliver annual seminars in Creative facilitation, Race Power and Privilege and Conflict at KSH University, Germany https://www.ksh-muenchen.de/en/the-university/ which I hope inspire social workers to be willing to be open and courageous as they begin their challenging careers in social work.