This has been an incredibly rough year, and I am finding myself in a position where I need a serious assist from my community. My closest friends and family members have encouraged me to create this page in hopes to find a little relief.

But first, TRIGGER WARNING (about halfway down): Violence, Mental Health, Murder, Grief/Loss

For anyone who finds their way to this page and doesn’t know me: I’m Amanda Valentine, a traveling photographer and artist of 20 years. I’m based in Philadelphia but tour to provide services to clients all over the US.

I lost 3 full weeks of work in late February/early March due to a severe case of RSV, so it was already feeling a little like I was about to have one of the “nervous years.” The kind where I’m just never caught up. A hard-working year but I’ve never been afraid to work hard!

The first 2 week leg of my Spring photography tour began in mid-March with my camera taking its very last photo and calling it quits for good — leading to the unplanned expense of a new camera and rushed shipping to continue the tour. This is a huge hiccup when you’re self-employed on a tight and careful budget, but I began planning to offset it, possibly with a special print sale once I returned back home.

I was still feeling very optimistic about 2026, heading home from the first tour leg on April 1st with the intention of spending 10 days retouching images to make up for the weeks lost to sickness.

Then I got a call during my flight layover and received what might be the worst news of my life: my schizophrenic brother went on a rampage in the family home, leaving one family member dead and two badly injured and traumatized.

I obviously had to get to my surviving family ASAP. I immediately postponed the remaining 8 weeks of the Spring tour (my entire income for the first half of the year — a massive financial blow) and instead made last-minute arrangements to travel to my home state to be with my family.

I’ve spent weeks processing these events with my surviving family while cleaning and packing up a house we’ve spent 30+ years in, so that the house can be sold and we can leave this incredibly difficult chapter behind us.

But when it rains it really does pour because within 3 days of my being home, I found myself in an incredible amount of pain. I thought I had pulled some muscles during those epic RSV coughing fits I was having back in February. Weeks had passed and the pain was only getting worse. I was taken to the emergency room to learn that I had actually broken one rib in two places! And I was told that I’m not allowed to work for 8 weeks. So on top of everything else — I’ve been walking around with a super mangled rib for weeks: lifting and hauling heavy gear on tour, scrubbing things and moving heavy antique furniture with my family… a lot of crying… all while in agony… with a broken rib.

I’ve been out of work and consumed with trauma, grief and confusion during a funeral, court hearings and official meetings… all while trying to pack a big house with a broken bone and the added stress of my funds running dry. I feel like I’m being pushed to the very edge of my stress level tolerance. Being self-employed offers me no paid time off or bereavement benefits. It means no financial cushion or work resources to help. I quite literally have no income during all of this, and my expenses keep mounting.

But even with all of this, I’m still somehow optimistic that 2026 can be a beautiful year with the help of my community. My toxic trait is still believing, as a family, we can turn this year around. And, as an artist and small business, I can maybe find myself thriving once again despite all of this. I’m just in need of a little help in this darkest moment. So that I can focus on healing my mind and body and helping my family heal without the fear of bankruptcy. Please send help if you’re able and repost if you can.