Who am I?
My name is Silvia Marte, I am a feminist visual artist who uses photography as a tool for social criticism and change, to challenge cultural and patriarchal prejudices.
I trust in the enormous power of the image to make abuses and injustices visible. As well as in the great strength that comes from the union of women, from our individual stories, which together create unquestionable universal testimonies.
I believe that everyone deserves a dignified life.
With Vulnerables I want to tell the stories behind obstetric violence. To give a face to and unite the voices of women who have been victims at one of the most vulnerable moments of our lives.
Together we can shed light on so much darkness.
As an entrepreneur, I have co-directed with David de Flores for almost 10 years La Cámara Roja, a photographic space of reference in the Region of Murcia that brings together different services related to photography such as a school, digital and analogue laboratory, gallery, publishing house and audiovisual production company..
I am also full-time mother of Tristán and Indira and part time mother of Lucía and Sofía, who are ALSO WITHOUT ANY DOUBT the great projects of our life.
My motivation
Vulnerables stems from my own personal experience as a mother and as a victim of obstetric violence.
My motivation and involvement is great, as this project is the product of experiences and knowledge accumulated over the last 7 years.
During that period of time I have experienced one miscarriage and have given birth twice. On both occasions, I have been more afraid of what they might do to me in the hospital than of the birth itself. than of the birth itself.
During these processes, on many occasions when I was in a hospital environment, I felt that I was in a hostile place, not understanding why they acted in that way.
In gathering as much information as possible to deal with both experiences, my shock and horror was colossal as I discovered the profound gap between what a woman and baby need at this key moment in their lives, and the reality of the hospital care they receive.
In addition, I identified that the women around me also felt mistreated in these processes and were reluctant to talk about it.
In the studio I photographed pregnant women who later returned with their babies in their arms and looked broken and shattered, I saw in them that same pain that I knew so well.
In one of the photos I appear with my grandmother, my mother and my daughter. It is an image that has enormous meaning for me. In it I see motherhood through time. Behind my grandmother sits her mother and so an infinite chain that includes us all.
This photograph speaks of the repetition of patterns that abuse and oppress us, that harm us. But it also speaks of love, responsibility, future and hope, of taking action and embracing what really matters. About revolution and change.
Listening to all the brave women who make up Vulnerables has been very moving and has reminded me of our sisters, the suffragettes and all the women who, with their courage, have ensured that today we can enjoy rights that were denied to us.
I believe that Vulnerables is already part of the history of feminism. A history that today pushes with great force to demand the elimination of structural inequalities between women and men, and the review of our individual and collective responsibility.
