The Darkest Hour

An Exhibition About Suicide by Harry Borden

I was in bed and falling asleep with a book, about to turn off my light when something made me check my phone.

A message from Michael.

Dr Michael Hope was my first subject and has become a friend.

An accomplished pediatrician, his life spiraled after his Mother and then his wife died in quick succession.

A breakdown was followed by several suicide attempts.

The process of recovery has been slow and included a diagnosis of autism.

Living an hour away, I decided to call the emergency services.

At 2am I was informed they were outside his house.

I slept fitfully telling myself I had done everything possible.

Luckily I was able to pick him up from Musgrove Park hospital at lunchtime the following day.

He slept on my sofa whilst I made him food.

After a while, he was singing along to music videos with my children.

After we’d eaten, with a mixture of frustration but also relief he told us he’d just felt so low.

A few pills had turned into a few more. He’d just wanted to drift away.

Suicide is such a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

A person enters the frame of mind where taking their life seems like the only logical action to combat the hurt they feel.

The original idea for this work came after several friends of my children took their lives.

When I was a child this was a rare phenomenon, sadly it seems, this is no longer the case.

The aim of this project is to use photographic portraits with testimonies to show how people reached a better place after contemplating suicide.

Much of the available information about suicide focuses on loss to suicide rather than stories of recovery.

Sharing stories and portraits will help break down stigma around mental illness and suicidal crisis.

Thanks to Debbie Wint, a clinical psychologist and suicide Prevention Lead with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust who put me in touch with my first subjects and advised me with regard to protocol.

The last couple of years have been tough.

Technology has enabled us to spend ever more time in the digital realm.

Social media drives us into tribes and exacerbates challenges like the pandemic, global warming and the war in Ukraine.

The Darkest Hour will takes a compassionate look at the challenges of being human and living in the modern world.

Harry Borden

Michael after I picked him up from the hospital.

Harry Borden