sacred salt

Experiments & Explorations, Imogen Cunningham

“ODE is a visual exploration of the dynamics of female friendship. One of the reasons I started ODE was to, quite literally, give an ode to sisterhood and female friendship. I’ve been amazed by the power and oneness of women my whole life and continue to be so. Especially the bond and connection that I often feel and see between them has been important to me. It struck me that this bond is often represented in (popular) media as ‘toxic’, dramatic or hostile. I wanted to create a document of photographs that would show a different side without losing honesty. I’ve been photographing couples of best friends, ten so far and still going, on the streets and in their homes to try to explore the dynamics of female friendship and capture what that may look like.”

Nudes, Judy Dater

Faces, Places, Yael Malka

Women, Judy Dater

Unternachte, Elena Helfrecht

“Before having my son, I, like many other women, had an idealised but perhaps unrealistic expectation of breastfeeding. The images I’d seen tended to represent breastfeeding in quite a generic and non-informative way. I wanted to open up the conversation – not for or against, simply more honest. Letting mums share their story in the comfort of their homes, I hope it can give others who choose to breastfeed something to connect with and to feel a little more understood.” With so much more open and honest discussion around the role of women’s bodies at the moment, now feels like the right time to discuss one of its most basic functions in a truthful and refreshing way.”

This project focuses on a touchstone moment in the lives of American women and girls: their emergence from protected youth to public maturity. From a core series of photographs of my daughter, Emma, the project has swirled out though friends and classmates, past their families, neighborhoods, social rituals, and community lives to develop a study of emerging female identity with all its promises and perils.”

Photographs and video made through 2 way mirror (girls between 11-14 responding to their own reflection)

Visible Girls Anita Corbin

As Usual, Brooke DiDonato

“Normality is defined by the images we see all around us, we are led to believe all women have idealised, flawless skin - they don't. Whether unshown or simply disguised, many women have conditions such as acne, rosacea and eczema and many of these women feel a pressure to hide behind a mask of makeup, covering up what actually makes them unique.”

Girl Pictures, 1997-2002 Justine Kurland

Happy Valley, Eva O’Leary

“The images in Lying Still examine notions of the self, mortality, sexuality, intimacy, roles and relationships and their ever-evolving structures. Through the use of staging, I examine the artist’s relationship to the camera, while both observing and being observed. Acting as disruptions to the daily routine, my images use rich iconography and symbolism that displaces the viewer’s expectations of the everyday, creating a psychological landscape that is as treacherous as it is poetic.”

“Abendlied examines how individual relationships in a family are shaped by the processes of growing up, aging, and eventually letting go. It reveals how this circle of life not only contributes to an ebb and flow of connection, but also to a feeling of separation within the family bond. The project aims to look at the elements that create a family: not just the genes, but also the stories and secrets, as well as the objects that we surround ourselves with. The things that have always been there, are handed down, and make up the tangible and visible material that turns houses into homes. In this series they become poetic stand-ins for underlying emotions and the “unspeakable” that is unique to each family.”

 “On March 16th, 2014. I came out to my parents in a three-hour conversation that took place in Quito, Ecuador. Accompanied by my sisters, (that already knew) I documented the event as part of an experimental photography project I called Unveiled.  Much of my conflict and inhibition stems from the religious aspect of my upbringing. Just like eighty per cent of the Ecuadorian population, my parents and extended family are all devoutly Catholic. Growing up in that environment made it difficult to accept who I increasingly suspected I was. I often struggled with it, sometimes denied it. For many years I felt so perverted, confused, and embarrassed.  I didn’t discover the true value of a kiss until I was nearly twenty. It was my first kiss with a girl and it was everything those previous kisses had not been: immediately exciting, exhilarating and enjoyable.”