Linn Shröder, photographer from the Ostkreuz Agency, mother of twins, and wife. In this image, she presents a unique, very interesting, and courageous image project in my opinion.
Through this self-portrait, she shows us a series of very interesting aspects about life and death, as well as some compositional curiosities, making this work a unique image project.
Firstly, an evident literary figure is shown, "the ellipsis." It can be seen that through that arm that "feeds" one of her children, the figure of the children's father, her husband, is implied.
The idea of the duality of life and death is present in the image. Two sides of the same coin. It can be seen not only through the birth of her babies but also through that operated, absent chest, which suggests that she has overcome breast cancer or an illness that has caused her to lose that breast. This idea is also reinforced by looking at the children; one is asleep, and the other is awake, a very clear and evident metaphor of life and death. Additionally, compositionally, they are separated by a symmetrical axis, dividing both sides of that figurative coin.
Also, this idea of life-death can be found in the clothing the mother wears. It resembles snake skin, an animal that sheds its skin periodically, leaving this dead organ behind, giving rise to new life. Perhaps it is a personal opinion, but it is true that when looking at that clothing, I think of it.
Another interesting aspect is the compositional figure, which, in addition to symmetry, she has used to reinforce the idea of birth (life). She uses an inverted triangle whose edges are formed by the children themselves, and whose vertices are the feet (lower vertex) and the heads of the children (upper vertices).
Thinking of this figure brings to mind the image of a chalice, a container of life, that is, a womb. The photographer has been very intelligent in placing this composition with her babies. Certainly, it is not an improvised composition, and the image has been thoroughly studied.
Finally, one last aspect that I would like to highlight is the arrangement of colors. In the foreground of the image, warm colors dominate, such as yellow-orange, and in the background of the image, the predominant tone is cool, a subtle blue, which gives the sensation of cold. The arrangement of these tones not only gives a sense of depth but also leads to thinking about life and death in such a way that warm colors represent life (we are very comfortable with warm colors) and cool colors give the sensation of a dark and cold place, where probably no one wants to be.
In my opinion, it is a great image that forms a unique image project. An exception in photography, which fortunately requires many images to tell a story, making photography closer to literature than to painting. This makes projects long-lasting, and therefore involves a
Linn Shröder's website: http://www.linnschroeder.de/
Ostkreuz's Agency: https://www.ostkreuz.de/en/
