For this Rag Week special of the R29 Photo Album, we commissioned six female photographers to create a new image about what menstruation means to them.
From the crimson waves of emotion, to the relationship with our body and its function, to femininity, self-care and sexuality, the results paint a moving picture of how women see and feel about their periods.
Click or scroll through the album and read the personal stories that accompany each photograph.
Adrienne Raquel
@adrienneraquel
I remember getting my first period in Year 8 — it was the moment I had been waiting for! All of the excitement that I had came to a halt on that day. I was afraid, embarrassed, and somewhat ashamed by the thought of bleeding. Now that I've grown older, my time of the month is no longer a topic of shame. Although my period has brought on a whirlwind of lethal cramps and crazy mood swings, I've grown to recognise its beauty. I've come to the realisation that my period is not only a representation of my femininity — it is also the representation of new life, restoration, and growth.
Ana Cuba
@ ana__cuba
My period was never something I paid special attention to. I have always been lucky enough not to experience any pain or cramps, so it would always come by surprise and, if lucky, I would be wearing my beautiful and unsexy collection of period pants that week. But a couple of years ago I lost my period for over half a year. It just didn't come, probably as a result of unhealthy eating plus high levels of stress. I missed it so much. I remember it came back on 1st January 2015, and it was the best Christmas present I could have. Since then, I must say I'm very happy to see it coming every month, meaning my body is functioning well and that it's ready to give life if I ever want it to.
Chloe Sheppard
@ eolhcsheppard
My period is a reminder that my body is working as it should. It's irritating, and most of the time I wish it was something I didn't have to deal with, but in the end it's just a way of my body getting rid of what it doesn't need and starting afresh. When I was asked to shoot a photograph interpreting menstruation, what came into my head was that idea – of my body ridding of stuff and what that stuff is. The phrase "fruit of the womb" rang in my head, and I'm not sure why or where I'd heard it before, but I wanted to take that phrase quite literally and use fruits in the photo. "Fruit of the womb" I think works because essentially our periods are the fruit of our wombs – of course a baby is a more logical example – it's what grows inside of us and what our body produces. I know so many people who are disgusted by periods and the idea of them, so I wanted to create an image that was typically visually pleasing but still represents what a period means to me.
Photographed by Chloe Sheppard. With thanks to Palais flowers.
Frederike Wetzels
@frederikewetzels
I have been taking hormones for almost 15 years now. I never had a normal cycle. This is my last contraceptive ring. It wasn't an easy decision as I am so used to all its advantages but with the time it just didn’t feel right anymore. I am now looking forward to discover how my body works naturally.
Rosaline Shahnavaz
@rosaline_s
I photographed T with the moon. For me, my menstrual cycle is a monthly celebration of love, sex and new life.
Saturday came up with the feeling of lead again
Blooming inside the veins on your right hand
The colour of lead
Better still cutting mercury and peering down
Glistening silver for the spilt second, you took from me
I bloom with the moon
Pulled left and right, running cycles of the slowest dials
He looks at me with all the silver light, dousing me in pickle that morning
That silver rising to my many surfaces
Rosie you're glowing!
Simin repeats fortnightly
Rosie you're glowing
The lightest silver of the moon, yes
Told in Farsi, the poetics are lost
On him the darkness
Flooding me
And ignoring the blood
Ignoring the heat
The sweat
Yes
We're our coldest still
Looking at you
Sparking up a source of light
A switch
That dark pitchium
Quickly and abruptly turns me on a rota
My moon changes me like clay
Looking at the world in a state of flux
My moon changes too
And you provide the source of life
Steph Wilson
@stephwilsonshoots
“When she bleeds, the smells I know change colour. There is iron in her soul on those days. She smells like a gun.” Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body.
Periods are sexy: the freshly metallic scent and the robust crimson red (my favourite part) causes my pupils to dilate, just a little bit, each time I empty my menstrual cup in the shower onto my pink bathroom tiles. I look forward to that morning pouring every month, regardless of the excessive bedsheet changes and expensive dark chocolate kitchen restocks. From the abdominal cramps, a reminder of our additional organs and their strange childbearing objective, to the indulgent self-care rituals we perform as an attempt to neutralise the morose bits, menstruation is a love-hate relationship with our own flesh and blood. I relish them, I detest them; it's just a good job my favourite colour is red.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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"I Felt Suicidal": Living With Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
8 Period Tracking Apps To Make Your Time-Of-The-Month A Total Breeze