I shot this self-portrait last week to work through some emotions and thoughts on trauma and survival and closure. Every step of photography is an outlet for me. There are deliberate choices I make to tell a story. The eyes look straight into the lens to mark honesty. The lighting and golden skin is a little Rembrandt to evoke a kind of darkness. The shallow depth of field draws attention to the centre to show control of the narrative. Maybe you can read into what I was feeling when I made those choices. But I think I wanted to convey that strength and courage isn’t about life not affecting you, or about carrying on without continually processing what happens in our lives. So it matters how we tell stories about strength and survival, whether through photos or words.
I don’t really know what I want to write today. I’m too exhausted for a happy IWD post because frankly the stuff to celebrate seems rather outweighed. I just don’t have a lot of hope today and I never want to portray on social media that things are ok when they’re not. I’m here to be honest, to live a life of integrity. But if you’re feeling positive, post away. If you follow Australian news then you know that women are outraged by recent events. IWD and the fight for gender equality is about so much more than corporate PR. And it’s not just one day. It’s every day. So this year the problems with IWD seem so much more stark than the spotlighting and activism it should stand for. Women don’t want flowers, we want real, systemic change, and in an intersectional way. I wish I could be more positive, but I’m just going to say this: I wish a POWERFUL IWD to women everywhere today ❤️