19 WOMXN
This collection was inspired by an article I wrote last year about going filter free, the perils of Snapchat and why we don’t recognise ourselves anymore. It also has roots in my own thought process surrounding the end of my degree, figuring out what version of myself to put forward and deciding on being authentically me, something I KNOW I’m good at. The article focused on the pressures that many of us feel to look a certain way or to present a certain persona on social media. However, during the COVID-19 crisis, I started to notice a shift. The conversation changed to it being okay to rock a three day old messy bun in a meeting (virtual in nature, of course) and being unashamedly naked from the waist down. It was about how we felt, rather than what we looked like. We started talking about how not seeing each other is changing our self image and how attitudes were seemingly changing. Negative comments, cyber bullying and pressure on womxn to maintain an image that is deemed socially acceptable are all still very real parts of our daily lives, but if we can take the power out of our insecurities by offering them up to the universe, we glow.
My ultimate goal and pure driving force in everything I do is ACCESSIBILITY. It is so important to me to think about all the different ways we can get a message across, in a format that is accessible to all, by using my creativity and what I have learnt from nearly 5 years studying Psychology and Sociology. This message of self love and authenticity is a hard one for many of us to accept, so turning it into something visual just means it might reach one more person. Not all of these images will be easy to look at, you will see scars, spots, wrinkles, roles and eye bags, but they do not detract from your worth. This will also be the first time many of those involved have seen their pictures. I was originally going to send sneak peaks but after thinking about it, I wanted to keep this project as authentic as possible and keep the images as true to what I saw as possible.
Some of these womxn found me, some of them were found by me and some were nominated. The quotes with each image were picked by me from the conversations I had with these goddesses about the images they sent me and how Lockdown was shaping their new normal, mentally, physically and emotionally, whatever their situation may be.
I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who was not afraid to share their vulnerability and offered to be part of this project, I genuinely wanted to draw every single one of you! Everyone involved in this has been honest, transparent and supportive from day one and I cannot express how grateful I am to be able to create this collection. Stay safe ♡
