Regina Mamou

Nine Months
c-print
22″ x 22 in.

I started photographing myself because I was uncomfortable in my own skin. At first, I focused on myself not as a specific body, but as a form to talk about aspects of reproduction, femininity, and beauty. However, over the past two years, I experienced a life-altering illness that left me branded with a scar down my abdomen.

I can no longer hide behind even pointed general statements about gender or feminism or sexuality. The scar gives my body specificity, the way a tattoo reveals a nameless figure. Through my personal struggle and creative process, I want to speak for many women’s bodies under duress and moving through lives with dignity and a deep knowledge of impermanence.

© Regina Mamou