about the storyteller

Bailey Edelstein is a multimedia journalist dedicated to sharing stories through documentary film, photography and writing. She received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from American University’s School of Communication and graduates from the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at George Washington University in May 2017 with her Masters of Arts in New Media and Photojournalism. Her goal is to inspire her audiences to further explore the topics she covers. One of the reasons Bailey chose this career-path is because each story assignment brings the opportunity to research, learn and immerse herself in a new topic.

Bailey has been working on “The After Standing Project” since April 2016. (It is her master’s thesis project for GW’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design). Twelve months ago, she recognized a need to cover the seldom-told story of addiction: the story after an individual in recovery stands on solid ground in their sobriety.

Throughout the storytelling process she:

  • Harnessed a deeper understanding of the people in her life who have been affected by behavioral health disorders (personally or interpersonally).
  • Learned that relapse is often mistreated as failure–and should never be.
  • Discovered a new meaning of the word “hope”.
  • Confirmed that we should always carry the utmost respect for those around us, because everyone is fighting their own private battles.
  • Noticed the world needs a little more empathy (so do something nice for someone today <3 )
  • Recognized that an investment in mental health funding for today, is imperative because #mentalhealthmatters.

behind the scenes