Can You See Me?

by Elin Spring

More than anything, Can You See Me? is a celebration of unsung heroines, the women whose identity, determination and nurturing strengthen the fabric of society. Although everyone from power brokers to plebeians appears happy to acknowledge that women’s contributions are far-reaching, those achievements have traditionally gone unheralded. In this affecting exhibit, three master photographers present intimate, personal narratives that grapple with the challenges and triumphs of femininity, from birth to coming of age to aging and death. Eva Woolridge’s In These Hands: Black Birth-Workers’ Project, Rania Matar’s SHE, and Maggie Steber’s Madje Has Dementia are on view at Leica Gallery Boston through June 8th, 2024.

“Rest, Girl” from the series In These Hands: Black Birth-Workers’ Project by Eva Woolridge, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.

Eva Woolridge’s vibrant photographic portraits were made in conjunction with her documentary film In These Hands: Black Birth-Workers’ Project, created by and about women of color. Why? In the United State today, Black women are still three times as likely to die from childbirth or pregnancy-related complications as white women. This horrifying statistic corroborates an insidious and persistent form of racism.

“Her Hands: Portrait of Midwife” from the series In These Hands: Black Birth-Workers’ Project by Eva Woolridge, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.

To raise awareness and help promote change, Woolridge and two other Queer, Black filmmakers traveled the US by van and interviewed Black midwives, doulas, mothers, academic scholars and leaders in the reproductive justice movement. Each of Woolridge’s robust images represents the personal story of a woman advocating reproductive respect and fair treatment for Black women. In creating a sense of empowerment in her images and film, Woolridge casts hope into the prolonged, historic shadows of fear and inequity.

“Michelle Browder: Mothers of Gynecology” from the series In These Hands: Black Birth-Workers’ Project by Eva Woolridge, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.

“Meghan” Bronx, New York, 2019, from the series SHE by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

SHE is Rania Matar’s cross-cultural exploration of young women in their 20’s, coming of age in today’s fraught global environment. Through telling composition, gesture and expression, Matar’s collaborative portraits reflect the emotional underpinnings of each young woman’s developing identity.

“Lea” Bechara-Al-Khoury Palace, Beirut, Lebanon, 2019, from the series SHE by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

The integral role of surroundings emphasizes key components of circumstance, from a bombed-out palace in Beirut, to a halcyon refuge in the Bronx, to a bare hardwood floor in Paris. Whether directing her gaze inwardly or directly at the camera, each young woman’s posture, attire and often glorious head of hair declares a restrained determination to stake claim to her future. Often bittersweet, but always affirming, Matar’s sensitive narratives blossom into a recognition of our collective humanity.

“Lamia” Paris, France, 2019, from the series SHE by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

“Sleeping Beauty” Hollywood, Florida, 2008, from the series Madje Has Dementia by Maggie Steber, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery, Boston. “Madje Steber takes an afternoon nap with her stuffed kitty in her room at Midtown Manor.”

Maggie Steber’s Madje Has Dementia is a firsthand account of her mother’s nine-year decline and demise. A world-renowned photojournalist, Steber’s talents nurture this unusually subjective series, one she never originally intended to share publicly. It is our privilege that she eventually chose to do so. Her photographs express both dark candor and loving reverence as she shares the increasingly common experience of accompanying a loved one along the rocky path of Dementia.

Feature Image: “After the Rain” Hollywood, Florida, 2009, from the series Madje Has Dementia by Maggie Steber, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery, Boston. “Madje Steber sits in front of a puddle of water that reflects the world around her. In many ways because of dementia, she is part of that reflection, not quite here in the real world, not quite there in her own reflections.”

In sensual, sometimes grainy B&W images, Steber mirrors the breadth of her mother’s emotionality from confusion to joy. A sense of lyricism inhabits these images, as in Steber’s angelic rendering of her slumbering mother and her image of Madje contemplating a rain puddle whose reflections serve as a metaphor for what has been lost and what remains. As Madje wanes in Steber’s photographs, what never seems to diminish, what instead seems to sustain both mother and daughter, is compassion.

“A Hug For Madje” Midtown Manor, Hollywood, Florida, 2006, from the series Madje Has Dementia by Maggie Steber, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery, Boston. “Caregiver Madeleine Schmidt from Romania was Madje’s main caregiver and watched over her like an angel. I know she prolonged Madje’s life by caring for her in the worst moments and the best.”

In this exhibit, Leica Gallery Boston assembles the empathic visual narratives of Eva Woolridge, Rania Matar and Maggie Steber, whose praise of extraordinary ordinary women at various stages of life poignantly begs the question Can You See Me?

For more information about this exhibit, go to: https://leicagalleryboston.com/exhibitions/