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Amy James FEMALE: As I set out to photograph this glorious theme of Female, I never realized how many emotions would be touched upon, exposed and brought to the surface. I began photographing this theme when I was in my late thirties.. .apprehensive about leaving the glory years of youth and/or beauty behind me. Living in an age where youth or preserving it at all cost was nauseating to me on some level. It was time to delve into what was next, as a woman, as a female? I never dreamed that in creating this body of work that my own heart and mind would become so intertwined with the images, or that I would be opened up to so many aspects and experiences through attempting to capture the many stages of being female. Through this project I have relived many of life's experiences of being female. With my sister, I have watched her daughters, my nieces, becoming young women themselves. I have experienced the birth of a new niece and felt the joy of her tiny new body and felt her small heart beat in my arms. I have witnessed the devastating loss my mother suffered as she lost her father whom she adored and cared for as he died at the age of 91. But perhaps the most poignant and emotional experience I have shared has been seeing my dear friend Emily face the diagnosis of breast cancer at the young age of 28. Every aspect of being female in my world was rocked and brought to the surface through this life-shattering event. So as I continue on photographing this amazing theme, and am still documenting Em in her battle...I am forever trying to grasp and understand all that we must go through in this life as females. The journey has been both cathartic and rewarding on so many levels. The weaker sex, I think not. I have given birth twice and twice I have heard with great joy “it's a boy“.. .almost feeling a sense of relief, for I was never quite sure if I was capable of the awesome job of raising a female. |