Domestic Violence Portfolio Finished

I am a member of the Blue Mountains Photography Group. We have just presented our projects of passion for this year. I drew my inspiration from a Shania Twain song, "Black ears, Blue Tears" This is a song about domestic violence and a woman's struggle to leave and stand on her own.

I had begun this project before my breast cancer diagnosis, so some of the photos were very raw and personal. I did not have a model on hand, so I had decided to use myself. This was a major challenge as I had no remote for my camera at the time, and had to set the timer to take photos. Much practice was needed as well as many trials to get the desired images.

I wanted to show the feelings that the victim might have in the images. I have no experience in domestic violence, but have been through other experiences that I felt would allow me to know what the domestic violence victim might feel. My encounter with breast cancer made it easier on some occasions to portray some of these feelings in my images.

My life, like I imagined theirs to be, was thrown upside-down. I faced fear, disbelief, terror, pain and sorrow. I found I could relate in part to these victims.

My journey to some type of freedom was in some ways similar to theirs. I don't pretend to be an expert on the issue, but felt that I had done justice to the topic.

This was the only bit of photography I have been able to do lately. The rest of my time has been spent getting ready for the Leura Markets on this Sunday. I have been busily printing, matting and boxing prints and cards. In many ways I'll be glad when it's over. In others, it's exciting to see how people react to my work. I'm doing this with two good friends, so that makes it even better.

And like the last image in the project.....I'm outta here!!

Hope to post again soon.