I needed to be in the perfect place at the perfect time to complete this photo.
It started with a beautiful capture of the model by my partner Nat Nichols. There seemed to be something hidden in it, waiting to be uncovered, and Nat agreed to give me his file.
That was more than two years ago. She started as a woman either emerging from or descending into a watery abyss – I wasn’t sure which. Either way, a woman struggling to survive.
Perhaps it was the mood of 2016 that affected my vision. You couldn’t escape the politics, the nasty lies, the assaults against female human beings. Then for the popular majority, the devastation and disbelief hit.
I abandoned the photo for a while. It was striking and beautiful and disturbing at the same time, yet didn’t satisfy me. Now I know it simply wasn’t the story I wanted to tell.
Recently I attended a women’s empowerment course. Nine hundred women ranging in age from 18 to 88 all in one space generated a unique aura of excitement, energy and promise. We pushed ourselves beyond the ideas we had grown up with … supported each other’s tragedies and triumphs … discovered love and joy in our physical selves and the power within that we have always held.
Woman are the light in this world, the positive power, the creators and sustainers of life. That is the story I bring to you today
Ellen