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The photographer Franziska Lange wants to show menstruation as it really is. She publishes pictures of the blood that is still taboo.
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Berlin – There are photos of tampons and sanitary towels used, stained jeans or legs with blood running down in the shower. They break with the usual images with which hygiene article manufacturers like to adorn themselves. It was published by the 34-year-old photographer Franziska Lange on her Homepage „How we bleed“.
Menstrual periods are part of life for many women. Nevertheless, it is rarely discussed, not to mention the publication of such photos, which are considered to be particularly intimate. “Menstruation is still a taboo,” says Franziska Lange. With her photo project, she wants to initiate a discussion and create a basis for communication. Because menstruation can actually look quite different. For example, the amount and color differ significantly, says Lange. It was important to her to present this. “This is data that has not existed before, a basis for communication.”
More than 300 women have already sent their photos to Lange
Lange came up with the idea for the project during her studies; diary-like pictures should come from here. The 34-year-old was just having her period herself – that’s when the idea arose to capture her bleeding photographically. “I was just having my days when I stuck my sanitary towels on the wall,” says Lange. She stayed tuned and finally devoted herself to the topic with her bachelor thesis. She publicly called on others to send her menstrual photos. In the meantime, more than 300 women have already sent their photos to Lange. She has published many of them on her homepage, some even on Instagram.
“We put everything on the Internet, then we can show that too,” she says. Blood is typically associated with danger or death, but this does not apply to menstrual blood. Even if many women struggle with menstrual pain, in this case the bleeding would also stand for life, childbirth and health. “We have visually negated and suppressed that,” says Franziska Lange.
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The vagina is generally sexualized, everything that is connected with it is hidden. In this respect, her project is also quite feminist. “This is a declaration of war on the patriarchy,” says Lange. Menstruation is not disgusting, she stresses. Some of the pictures would have irritated her at first. It is unusual to see such intimate photos. But that has changed in the past few months. “The more photos I look at, the more normal they become,” says the photographer.
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But many see it differently, the pictures also sparked discussions. Some men criticize that you could do a photo project about faeces right away, she says. For a long time I countered with the fact that no one was discriminated against for it. In addition, feces and urine have a completely different physical function.
Away from whitewashing or fetish sites
But she also meets many interested men. Many have told her that they had no idea what women mean when they talk about bleeding. Therefore, the project is explicitly not only aimed at women. In general, however, she is less about political persuasion. “I want people to talk about it, but you can also refuse,” she says. It is important that there are real photos of menstruation at all, apart from whitewashing or fetish sites.
The photographer has now graduated. But she also wants to continue working with the photos of menstruation. Lange’s big dream: a photo book that will be available in gynecological practices and schools in the future.
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