“As a photographer and artist, I naturally wanted to turn my experience in losing my son into something meaningful,” Susana said in an interview with Babble. “I noticed after the funeral, a lot of my friends and even some family members didn’t know how to address my grief and pain. In short, they didn’t know how to face child loss.” After Susana and the participants take a while to talk about their lost child, she hands over the mirror — the same one used in every shoot — and asks “the participant to think of their child and to hold the mirror as if they are holding their child one last time.” “I want to get the deepest emotions about their child to reflect in the images I take,” Susana says of the process. “This is a life trail we need to talk about,” she tells us. “Those who have lost children can’t heal if they feel alone and have no one to talk to. I want the viewers of Empty to see that child loss hurts, it’s a little scary but it’s okay to face it.” Reading through the stories of the brave women who have participated in the Empty Photo Project certainly isn’t easy. They are filled with grief and heartbreak, but they are also full of bravery and resilience. Their stories certainly need to be told, and we commend Susana Butterworth for helping them do that.
title: “Photographer S Empty Photo Project Shines A Light On Mothers Coping With Child Loss” ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-16” author: “Robert Jean”
“As a photographer and artist, I naturally wanted to turn my experience in losing my son into something meaningful,” Susana said in an interview with Babble. “I noticed after the funeral, a lot of my friends and even some family members didn’t know how to address my grief and pain. In short, they didn’t know how to face child loss.” After Susana and the participants take a while to talk about their lost child, she hands over the mirror — the same one used in every shoot — and asks “the participant to think of their child and to hold the mirror as if they are holding their child one last time.” “I want to get the deepest emotions about their child to reflect in the images I take,” Susana says of the process. “This is a life trail we need to talk about,” she tells us. “Those who have lost children can’t heal if they feel alone and have no one to talk to. I want the viewers of Empty to see that child loss hurts, it’s a little scary but it’s okay to face it.” Reading through the stories of the brave women who have participated in the Empty Photo Project certainly isn’t easy. They are filled with grief and heartbreak, but they are also full of bravery and resilience. Their stories certainly need to be told, and we commend Susana Butterworth for helping them do that.
