Herbal Lumen Print.

Bolton, England : 2023.

1 photograph : Fujicolour photographic print, lustre ; 42 x 29.7 cm.

Documented in the project zine : Whose menopause? (b33252166)

Wendy Shepherd. All Rights Reserved.

Anxiety anxiety why do you do this to me / Why can’t I just one day be free / Am I normal? Am I going crazy? / Hmm maybe. / I’m going to try my best not to overthink and make my anxiety worse / Sometimes it feels like a curse. / It will not win / Raging anxiety feeling like I can’t breathe / Worrying about what I can achieve. / Anxiety affects my whole life. / Hate it so much. / Thoughts rushing through my head / Desperately trying to get out of bed / To start a new day fills me with dread. / I will not let Anxiety beat me. / I WILL BE ME AGAIN.--Wendy Shepherd, artist statement from the zine Whose menopause?.

This work is a visual legacy of 'Whose Menopause?' an Arts Council England funded project in partnership with Bolton at Home and supported by NHS Bolton CCG and Indigo Gender Service. It was a 12-month socially engaged programme of work during 2023, co-created with three community groups. The groups used photography and sustainable cameraless methods to challenge the typical menopause narrative, which often excludes people identifying as LGBTQ+, working class or from the global majority. They took inspiration from recipe books, botanical drawings, photographs and other ephemera in the Wellcome Collection - some of which can be seen in the project's resulting publication 'Whose menopause?'. For further information about the project see: http://www.margebradshawphotography.co.uk/whose-menopause.

Title provided by the artist.

Wellcome Collection 3338637i