This book was created as a collaborative project of two women, a photographer and a writer. Each photograph in this book is accompanied by a Haiku written by Virginia Schmidt.
At first this project was meant to reflect the photographer's life as
well as to create a personal body of photographic art. Nataly Rader started by capturing women in their natural environments, which made her realize through the shared emotions how little they differed. With one photo session after another, Nataly started to lose my original sense and purpose of this work. In these moments of capturing other women and experiencing their raw emotions, she felt her own feelings surface. Two years later, in meeting another female photographer and sharing these moments, the friend spoke only one word: “secret.” Shocked and relieved, Nataly knew that she understood not just these women and their vulnerable moments, but also her. This work is not just about women and the secrets we keep, but also about rules and habits built within our society. Fear. Shame. Judgement.