Growing up, girls often encounter the cumbersome obligation of being chaste and intelligent, feminine and decisive, or emotive but crafty. Speak to any woman in your family. You will learn how they felt stifled by the unbearable weight of being socially and culturally acceptable versions of themselves. If, god forbid, they choose to evolve out of the boxes constructed to hold them, they were reprimanded — asked to toe the line, reduce themselves, shed their skin, and become polite porcelain dolls. Innumerable women struggle daily with these afflictions, but one chose to capture its hues and colors: Jamie Schofield Riva. Her series, Girlhood: Lost and Found, is as thought-provoking as it is gentle and compelling.
All images by Jamie Schofield Riva. Used with permission. For more information, please check out her website and Instagram: @j.s.riva.
Deconstructing The Myth of Beauty and Youth
Jamie Schofield Riva began this project as “a personal journey to discover a way back to the person” she was before she had to conform to societal norms. In her formative years, Riva saw how the world pushed the notion of attractiveness onto young girls and women. Riva’s mother wasn’t spared from it; neither was she when she became a model and actress. But when Riva had a daughter, she promised to raise the child with awareness, especially with the use of photography. “How do we reclaim the lost girl and her true nature, betrayed by false truths and unrealistic expectations to fit the restrictive mold society accepts?” she questions.
Girlhood: Lost and Found portrayed her experiences as a teenager and an adult and the similarities that seeped from her life into her daughter’s. “The collection of images examines multi-generational attachments formed in early childhood influenced by female stereotypes portrayed in our daily lives,” she explains. What stands out is the universal experience the series evokes. For instance, the found objects such as Barbie dolls and mannequins became an excellent layer with Riva’s portraits of herself, her mother, and her daughter. The relics of childhood and their juxtaposition with the present invite the viewers to think about the struggles generations of women endure.
Regarding the use of objects, Jamie Schofield Riva states, “The streets of NYC are a living, pulsating part of my life, so the objects feel almost like portraits. I began to listen more closely and realized they were mirrors of my internal battles and subconscious fears.” One could also notice how the hues and textures, cracked surfaces, and pores on the skin converge to unveil the kaleidoscopic spectrum of beauty. “Photographing them was a response to years of external conditioning I longed to free myself from, and something I could and should not ignore,” she adds.
As you flip through the photographs, the tension while making them is palpable. The necessity to unlearn and liberate is almost tangible, urging us to embrace our authenticity, which is aggressively scrubbed off us. In one portrait, we see markings to “soften” the lines on Riva’s face; in contrast, her self-portrait defiantly displays the wisdom on her face, showcasing the many chapters of her extraordinary life. “My fascination lies in wondering how we might choose differently if we grew into womanhood without the effects of any external influences that may have shaped our perception of what it meant to be a woman,” she states. “Would we still want the same things?” she questions.
Making of The Photobook
Girlhood: Lost and Found can be portrayed multi-dimensionally, and a photo book is the best progression. Along with the photographs, the book offers prose by Riva, women in her family, and other accomplished women (between the ages of 13 and 81), which makes the viewing “a more intimate experience.”
For Riva, writing has been the cathartic practice of “shifting the lens from self-loathing to self-love,” but by including narratives from other women, Girlhood: Lost and Found aims to become a means to address the injustices women often face. “It was essential for me that this book be a healing moment, not only for myself but for anyone who comes across it. I wanted to create space in the universe for the kind of positive change that can come from vulnerability and raw truth-telling,” she expresses. As anecdotes are passed down from woman to woman in hopes of guarding them, the photo book, too, becomes a haven for anyone who ever felt alone. “The hope is that every woman will feel seen and supported in some way while creating a sense of community by acknowledging that no woman can escape the societal pressures we endure, and we are in this together.”
Understanding History For a Better Tomorrow
Jamie Schofield Riva’s series is a labor of love, which is evident in its creation by blending the past and the present. Riva, who began photography at eight — referring to it as her “first love” — utilized various cameras for Girlhood: Lost and Found. She used a Canon 5d Mark III with 24-70mm and 100mm macro lenses. The latter helped create close-ups such as “wrinkles, stretch marks, and spider veins,” mini ‘poison’ magazine inserts, and specific text to highlight the “toxic messaging.” Riva depended on her trusted iPhone to photograph found objects.
When it comes to editing, Riva keeps it minimal. “It is essential to me to keep it real in a world where filters, retouching, and perfectly curated social media pages reign supreme and can be very dangerous,” she states.
Jamie Schofield Riva’s photographs remind us that a woman’s self-worth should never be bound to physical appearance or gender. Neither should they be looked at as mere nurturers, which limits the endless possibilities of what they can accomplish in their lives. To summarize, Riva prompts us and the impressionable young minds reading this interview to “Take up space. And know that even the smallest actions make a difference.” She adds that when the world becomes hostile, lean on your female companions to “protect and heal one another.” After all, when united, women become indestructible.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.
