From the Series
Bristol-based photographer Chloe Massey’s representations of women focus on their heroic contributions to history. As part of her ongoing photographic project, the student travelled to Cape Town to document the women who represent the universal strength of women around the world.
“Overwhelmed and humbled by the obstacles that women have faced, still face and in many ways have overcome in South Africa, I plan to learn from the women who show strength in their fight for change and their battle through oppression,” writes Massey.
In the initial stages of her project, Massey created a series of photographs as an ode to Empress Theodora, a former child prostitute who went on to rule the Byzantine Empire in the 6th Century alongside her husband Emperor Justinian. “[She] became an Empress who fought for the rights of women and elevated their positions in society and government,” adds Massey.
Massey’s work involves conceptual narratives about Monarchs from history.
She creates images that represent powerful women who she feels deserve a greater platform than most historical accounts provide. The next stage of her work will continue in the same vein, but she also plans to intertwine portraits of contemporary female advocators of change. Massey says this will “both honor them and give them a vessel of which to send their message to the world.”
