TO THE WOMAN BESIDE ME
Initially inspired by the women in my family, and others close to me who have endured a miscarriage, ‘To The Woman Beside Me' is a photographic illumination into the personal stories of women who have endured the specific experience of a miscarriage. Proposed as a photo book, it is a documentary look into the emotional, physical, and social effects a miscarriage can bring on women's personal lives. Its purpose and aspiration are aimed toward society, as well as at women and mothers in the hopes of greater and more knowledgeable conversations that will help break stigma and shame. Moreso, to conceiving an openness that renders solidarity, and in conjunction provide relief and aid from circumstance and grief.
As a greater wish, it will be for others to understand the extent of what women go through for motherhood and what is broken within the systems of support for these women. Research shows that twenty percent of pregnancies among women result in a miscarriage; in the U.K. alone, there are 250,000 per year and is the leading factor in child loss among pregnant women. However, it has been something most women have often felt uncomfortable or unable to speak about, due to its nature in our world today, being a conversational taboo shrouded in mystery and wrapped in stigma.
Produced in the form of a documentary book, this collection will bring insight into the lives of three different women’s experiences of miscarriage. Each story encompasses the difference in their lives and the effects of miscarriage, and although contrasting, they yield unity through this thread of experience. The purpose of highlighting these women in this way offers them not only a voice for themselves, but women like them, echoing that voice into society and a patriarchal world that has little knowledge of the things women endure throughout their journey into the world of motherhood. Within this significance, some might pull strength from and those who know little will be given insight, curating discourse and solidarity.
As a specific intention, I asked each of the women to write letters to the emblematic woman beside her. I gave them freedom in this, asking them to write to whomever it was they felt needed to hear what they had to say and to say whatever they needed to from their own experience and feelings. This intention compelled a form of catharsis and rather than me using my individual approach to amplify their voice, their voice could then be represented quite eminently. It ties the book together literally and symbolically. This is the representation I aim to uphold, women being supported together by this circumstance and connected through it will build solidarity, and knowledge which will help future women and society members, and in turn, help these women. Through a photograph, one can have their eyes opened which administers conversation, and through conversation they can have their ears opened, promoting healing, progress, and change.
