Genny Nelson, International Women's Day

It’s International Women’s Day, and I have had a migraine all day. I had a date with Margie, but I couldn’t make it. 

Confined to the house, thinking about Genny (Genevieve) Nelson (see yesterday), I decided to find my images of Genny and see if any of them were worth re-processing. The one I’ve chosen is from a memorial in 2018, paying tribute to a houseless man who struggled, as Genny did, with diabetes. The words on the window behind her are “NOURISHING FOOD.” 

Genny was soft-spoken and shy, so she didn’t talk much or seek attention, but when she spoke, everyone listened. I found a statement she posted in 1994:

“Sisters of the Road Cafe is about many things. We are about good food at little cost and dignity to all persons. We are about small beginnings and radical, go-to-the-root change. In a world intoxicated with death we are about life.” 

I think a number of Blippers subscribe to LensCulture online magazine of photography. They feature women photographers today. I am intrigued by elaborately-constructed and highly processed collages Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer made with women immigrants to Sweden, ages 17-24. I’m also drawn to Marna Clarke’s brave and unflinching documentary photographs of her husband and herself “growing old gracefully, graciously, and aware.”