The Gate-Keepers: A Portraiture Project
This is a portraiture project, documenting the “gatekeepers” of a growing movement regarding positive birth experiences in our country. My aim: to promote those who are enabling women to identify with their power and femininity and therefore normalize birth and the body.
These are their stories / anecdotes / opinions about what they do and how they see it…accompanied by my portraits and some general information on each sitter.
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Asanda Bobotyane is a nursing student and aspiring midwife who is based in Cape Town. She has been in the birthing profession for a little over a year now.
“I had all my children in the government hospital and it wasn’t nice… There are women being assaulted when they don’t want to push out their baby when the midwife says they must.
I’d like to see women treated with more kindness and respect when they give birth in government hospitals. The abuse needs to stop!”“I also think that people worry too much about how their bodies change, and the pressure to look good even after you have children. They forget about the precious gift of having a child and how this is more important than how your body will change afterwards.”
• (I invite more participants to join the project, you are welcome to email me for more information).