Photograph by Donna Ferrato

Image Title: Holy Pages

Dimensions: 19x13"

Medium: Inkjet Print Hahnemühle Rice Paper 100gsm

Year Created: 2019

Signed on recto, with signed handwritten caption by photographer

Image Description:

I can't think of any photojournalist who has documented the extremes of human passion more intensively and extensively than Donna. No one who has better captured the 360º picture of walking this earth as a female. There used to be a time when her study of women was split, over here the "domestic violence" work; and over there the "sex" work. The combination of the two is vital and it is "Holy". It is only in that combination do we see the whole spectrum of truth of what it is to be a woman. The contradictions we are expected to embody; the virgin and the whore, the vulnerable and the invincible, the mother and the daughter. (Text by Katherine Holden)

Description from Donna Ferrato's book Holy, associated with the work seen here:

Photographer Donna Ferrato goes on a radical 50-year road trip across the USA as women fight for equality in the bedroom and the boardroom. Holy follows her journey from the sexual revolution of the '60s through the #metoo era of today.

Holy is forged from one woman's outrage against a woman-hating world. May it anger you. Donna Ferrato's radical photographs show what women are capable of surviving. More than survive, Holy depicts women who prevail. Holy is an invitation to understand how it feels being held down by the patriarchy-what we are fighting for, what we are up against--and how we manage to maintain a sense of desire and appetite. Fighting for equality in the bedroom and the boardroom, Ferrato's journey follows the sexual revolution of the '60s through the #metoo era of today.

Holy is a showcase of power. Donna's images reveal women's bodies in all their monstrous glory-even her own. May these photographs mobilize you, whether you are cis or trans, young or old, butch or femme. Human survival depends on women. Embrace your instincts, desires, brainpower, and strength. Embrace each other.

Photographer's Bio:

Donna Ferrato is an internationally-known documentary photographer. Her gifts for exploration, illumination, and documentation coupled with a commitment to revealing the darker sides of humanity, have made her a giant in the medium. She has four books including Living with the Enemy which sold over 40,000 copies, and Love & Lust, published by Aperture. She has participated in over 500 one-woman shows and has received awards such as the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Humanistic Photography (1987), the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism (2003), and the Gender Fairness Award from the New York State Supreme Court Judges (2009). She founded a non-profit called Domestic Abuse Awareness for over a decade and in 2014 launched a campaign called I Am Unbeatable, which features women who have left their abusers. In November 2016, TIME magazine announced her photograph of a woman being hit by her husband (1982) as one of the "100 Most Influential Photographs of All Time." Currently, Ferrato is documenting her rapidly-changing New York neighborhood of Tribeca for a new book, and leads experimental photo workshops called The Erotic Eye.

http://www.donnaferrato.com/