40-Over-40 Portrait Experience

Celebrating Life Above 40

Celebrating the Beauty and Strength of Women Over 40 +

We are happy to share with you some portraits of some of the women from the Over 40 project in 2022. This exhibition is a celebration of women of strength and beauty, showcasing their remarkable stories and unique personalities. These women come from all walks of life, including wives, sisters, mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, CEOs, business leaders, carers, workers, colleagues, teachers, and healers. They are menopausal, cancer survivors, life survivors, medicated, striving, and doing their best to survive and thrive. They have spent the best part of their lives carving a niche for themselves and are expected to be everything to everyone at all times. This exhibition is a reminder that they are invaluable, and they are master alchemists. They make babies and homes, friends and families, meals and crafts, and memories. This experience has given them the gift of seeing themselves as the world sees them – not flawed, but perfect and beautiful.

A letter to Oliver

40+. We are an eclectic bunch. And a remarkable bunch

Wives, sisters, mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers and friends

CEOs, business leaders, carers, workers, colleagues, teachers, healers

Menopausal, cancer survivors, life survivors

Medicated, striving, doing our best to survive and thriving, living

We have all spent the best part of half of our lives carving a niche for ourselves And in our generation we are expected to be everything, to everyone, at all times

Mothers, homemakers, career women, home school experts, chefs, nutritionists, long term carers, counsellors, rock the cornerstones and supports of a solid and stable family

whether that be me and my cat or with children, adopted and fostered or step, friends, relatives, colleagues and everyone important that I may not have mentioned

We are master alchemists

We make babies and homes and friends and families and meals and crafts and memories

But we also feel the need to be beautiful and sexy and desirable

What does that mean?

We’re not 20 anymore

So we spend a fortune, fretting, worrying, stressing

Teeth whitening, hair dye, miracle wrinkle cream, diets, support knickers

Botox, collagen, fillers, surgery Why?

To look like we did when we were 20

When we had no idea

Of how strong we are And how important

We are Invaluable

So why do we question ourselves? Make ourselves wrong?

Too old, too fat, too irrelevant, invisible?

We’ve learnt a lot. In half a lifetime

But we’ve forgotten more

We’ve forgotten to love ourselves

We love our friends and our families but we’ve forgotten to love ourselves

And that is the gift that Oliver Doran and this exhibition has given all of us

Because he sees us

Like the world sees us

Not how we see ourselves, flawed

Perfect

And beautiful

Thank you

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