Bipolar Josh is a photographer capturing a global perspective through the lives of recycling workers. Suffering from Bipolar I, he finds absolute thinking extremely dangerous. His work is important because he shows his own experience of recycling to survive and the shame he felt through that experience. Through his technique, he brings fill light and amazing backgrounds to his subjects, bringing dignity and beauty to people who are often overlooked.
 

Bipolar Josh asks himself: If this person passes away, will this image paint them in a positive light? Will their community feel joy when they look at this image and remember them? His new body of work is called Oakland in a Positive Light. The work creates a correlation between the negative stigma he reflects on through his own experience with Bipolar I and the amazing town of Oakland, which also receives so much negative stigma.Just as Bipolar Josh believes a person should never be defined only by a diagnosis, he believes Oakland should never be defined only by its problems.
This work is about looking beyond the stigma and finding the beauty, humanity, community, and positive stories that are already there.