My body, my choice.

A rallying cry defending women’s bodily autonomy. We hear it at protests, we see it on social media posts, on feminist bags and t-shirts. A mantra repeated to chip away at the taboos that keep us silent.

Like three period taboo.

We are taught that periods are something to keep hidden, that the blood that leaves us once a month is dirty and disgusting—even dangerous.

Why?

Over three months, I observed my cycles, working closely with my own menstrual flow, watching my relationship with my period shift as I learned to appreciate its beauty. I came to see it as a gift from nature, a precious resource that I could create with. I saw the spectrum of reds that my body can produce, how the quantity changes day by day. I poured it on paper, watched it swirl in water, and saw it freeze in the snow.

My body, my resource.

An abstraction of red suspended on pure white, this series of photographs is a celebration of menstruation.