Honorable Mention / 2023 / Portraiture / Self-Portrait

• Photographer
  Susan Borowitz, United States

“Locked-In” explores the phenomenon of feeling stuck and the sense of failure to control the forces that seem to dictate our lives. The metaphor and imagery used suggest the inability to move on and a perceived futility of each day. Self-portraiture reflects not only a personal journey, but also a common experience of women who feel consciously aware of what they should pursue or speak up about but feel impotent in the face of a dominant power: unequal relationships, demons residing in the subconscious, societal expectations and especially the disappearance of relevancy with encroaching age.