(Note: “The Housewives” was a term I fondly coined in 2006 after I started getting shoot requests from private, individual women who became my clients. Many of the women who contacted me were married and in their mid 30’s and were doing the shoots as gifts to their husbands. The folder in my archives is still called this and so I’ve stuck to it, in part just for the irony: most of these women are not “housewives” at all, but strong independent and forward thinking women who I have had the honour of documenting.
All are private commissions and the demographic has changed substantially over the years. Some I’m still in contact with, others I’ve totally lost contact with, some have become friends, some may wish not to have their real names used, others don’t mind, some may have their faces obscured for privacy reasons, others have generously shared their experiences of being photographed.)
I met and worked with French born Patricia in 2019 while she was on a holiday in South Africa. We shot in two locations. The images shown here are from Bakoven beach, just out of Cape Town. She has a lithe body which she is confident about and was wonderful to work with considering the public/private nature of shooting on a beach. Communication was challenging but a friend, who joined us, could assist form time to time with translation.
A selection of Shelley’s favourites now hang in little Kingston’s nursery bedroom.
