The project “Reconciliation” is a space open to women wishing to approach the relationship to their body and their image. The project is at the antipodes of the concepts in contemporary art.
This time with “Reconciliation”, Jean-Marie Ghislain is back in the water, but no longer in the ocean. The photos were taken in a swimming pool in Uccle. Exit sharks and other cetaceans, this new series focuses on women and the representation and acceptance of their bodies. “Nudity in this project is not only physical, real nudity is emotional and there is in most of these women a need to heal a part of them that has been hurt. I meet a lot of women who have suffered deep physical or psychological trauma and it is therefore really a catharsis for them, a way of life.“
As part of this project, Jean-Marie Ghislain does not photograph any model. Indeed, the women you discover in this very pretty series are all “ordinary” women. “These are all spontaneous requests, I do not ask any woman to photograph them. They talk about it among themselves, it’s a very organic and touching process. Today I worked with 62 different women from 24 to 62 years old.“
I am very touched by the resilience of women and by their will to move towards life.
This process is therapeutic both for the photographer and for the women passing in front of the lens. Jean-Marie Ghislain has long been haunted by the image of a woman who floats between the ages of two, following the suicide of her mother by drowning more than 30 years ago. The first sessions helped soothe his existential angst, then he realized that his work had a beneficial effect on the participants as well. “I do not present myself as a therapist but I accept the term ‘facilitator’. I welcome these women in the water, in a space that allows them tolisten to themselves and things they have buried deep within their being. This 34 degree water is a bit like a matrix.“Jean-Marie Ghislain explains to us that sometimes it takes several days to recover from a photo shoot with a woman. This was the case recently with one of them who told him that she had been the victim of sexual violence. : “VSIt was such a shock for me that I entered into collective masculine guilt. For 15 days I did nothing. I needed to digest the violence of the testimony. I am very touched by the resilience of women and by their will to move towards life. For me, this project is an incredible school of humility.“
To discover the “Reconciliation” series and the rest of the photographer’s work, visit Jean-Marie Ghislain’s website.
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