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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Ruth Ehrhardt is a midwife and a doula. She’s been working in birthing for 8 years now of which 4 have been as a midwife. She specialises in out-of-hospital births. She works mainly in the South peninsula area.
“The births are incredible and there are too many that stand out but one of the things I love is how time seems to suspend itself at a birth…how the world almost has to groan to a halt to make space for this woman and her baby.”
“I do feel that part of women’s disempowerment in this arena stems from a lack of a sense of autonomy and ownership of their own bodies. So we really need to begin work with young girls and women.”
• (I invite more participants to join the project, you are welcome to email me for more information).