CASE STUDY: FOUNDER THINGS
In the wake of selling her company in 2022 and subsequently being diagnosed with PTSD, Helena Price created Founder Things—an intimate series of conversations with founders. The project served a dual purpose: as a therapeutic path back to creative work and as a platform for sharing authentic stories about the founder journey.
Each installment features Price's portrait photography alongside candid conversations that explore the complexities of founding and running a company. The interviews prioritize authenticity and vulnerability. While the conversations are recorded for accuracy, the audio remains private—only the edited transcripts, reviewed by subjects for comfort and clarity, are published alongside their portraits in Price's newsletter, reaching thousands of readers interested in entrepreneurial experiences.
The project challenged Price to work differently than her previous large-scale documentary works. Instead of creating a complete body of work before release, Founder Things unfolds gradually, with individual stories published as they're created. This format pushed Price beyond her comfort zone while allowing her to manage her PTSD recovery process.
Founder Things struck a particular chord within Silicon Valley, where conversations about mental health are increasingly vital.
Through these intimate conversations and portraits, Price developed new artistic approaches and psychological insights, laying groundwork for returning to academia to study psychology and writing, all while processing her own experiences as a founder.
https://founderthings.substack.com/
Each installment features Price's portrait photography alongside candid conversations that explore the complexities of founding and running a company. The interviews prioritize authenticity and vulnerability. While the conversations are recorded for accuracy, the audio remains private—only the edited transcripts, reviewed by subjects for comfort and clarity, are published alongside their portraits in Price's newsletter, reaching thousands of readers interested in entrepreneurial experiences.
The project challenged Price to work differently than her previous large-scale documentary works. Instead of creating a complete body of work before release, Founder Things unfolds gradually, with individual stories published as they're created. This format pushed Price beyond her comfort zone while allowing her to manage her PTSD recovery process.
Founder Things struck a particular chord within Silicon Valley, where conversations about mental health are increasingly vital.
Through these intimate conversations and portraits, Price developed new artistic approaches and psychological insights, laying groundwork for returning to academia to study psychology and writing, all while processing her own experiences as a founder.
https://founderthings.substack.com/
