SOPHIA PFITZENMAIER

Taking Back Recovery

Physical illness can rob you of your strength, often leaving a person feeling weak, but worse yet, out of control. Finding your power through and after recovery is an act of rebellion and defiance. This creative project explores the reframing of the recovery process after a near death experience exposing both the vulnerability and fierceness of a creative soul. These images capture the journey of someone taking back their story after going through a long hospital stay, two surgeries, and several complications. After being sick and confined to bed for weeks, losing weight, and being too weak to walk, the artist chose to own her situation. The camera lens reveals that taking control of the narrative once in recovery and showing the strength, beauty, and sexuality of oneself serves to make one feel more powerful and in control rather than accepting the label of victim that society would naturally put upon you.