Photographer’s work is putting focus on female friendships
Girl Friends Project celebrates bonds shared by women
A Toronto-based photographer is putting female friendships in focus.
“There’s a movement and women are sharing their stories . . . You can really see that,” said Natalia Dolan, who launched the Girl Friends Project on Instagram in January. “But there’s also celebrity feuds that are taking up so much of the media. It’s almost encouraged to pit women against each other. I feel a responsibility and also a passion for shooting images that are positive, confident.”
The idea for the project — capturing female friendships on camera — stemmed from Dolan’s work taking shots of women for clients such as Google Canada and Winners. She made it her New Year’s resolution to start the project, long in the back of her mind. The #MeToo movement and the Women’s March in Toronto had already sparked conversations within her friend group — but she said the call to action was, at times, “overwhelming.”
“We can sometimes feel shameful if we feel we don’t have the time and skill set to make a footprint in the movement,” she said.
“You’re supposed to get up and do the march, and, of course, that’s great and if that’s your motivation, you should. But the project itself is a reflection of, ‘You’re already doing that.’ These friendships are doing great things.”
In addition to shooting regular friendships, Dolan has teamed up with organizations such as Big Sisters of Canada, Canada Learning Code and Rethink Breast Cancer to take photos of friendships born out of organizations, clubs and groups.
“It’s become more than a photography project,” she said.
“(It’s) a gathering and celebration of what’s happening here in our own city.”
Tracy Craig and Bintu Carmara met through Big Sisters seven years ago. They recently joined Dolan at the studio for a photoshoot.
“I’m 40 and Bintu’s 13 . . . I feel like I’ve gotten so much out of this pro- gram because of this match, and just to be able to do things like this together is huge,” said Craig, who moved to Canada from Trinidad in 2004.
Carmara said it’s important to show girls that they can be themselves.
“I don’t think they should try to conform with what society wants them to be, which is why I really like the Girl (Friends) project,” she said.
The project, she said, is highlighting real friendships and role models — women who aren’t dressed up in gowns or excessive makeup. Craig said that, especially now in this digi- tal age, it’s important to step back from being judgmental.
“I think any promotion of anything that’s positive, the world needs the maximum of that right now. The fact that females join together and the conversations that are happening now — I think it’s so transformative.”