the white dress
Belarusian photographer oksana veniaminova explores womanhood and a curious local belief.
Who are you and what do you do? I’m a photographer based in Belarus. I mostly work on independent documentary projects and make portraits. The topics I’m particularly interested in are gender, womanhood, physicality and memory.
Tell us about this project, White Dress. Marriage is the greatest concern for many women of different ages, social statuses and backgrounds in Belarus. Being married, and having a family and children, are still regarded as important indicators of a woman’s personal success. A popular belief endows the wedding gown with a mystical power to preserve a happy marriage forever – as long as you keep it. When I first created this project, I was reflecting on the theme of women’s memory, thinking about recollections that are purely feminine and can’t appear in a man’s head. At that time, I was also going through a divorce, so the topic of marriage was relevant for me.
Who are the women you’ve photographed? I was looking for women who’d kept their wedding gowns for at least 10 years. My first subject was a widow – she’d kept her gown for 14 years, but burnt it after the project was completed. Then I called my mother’s friends, who in turn called their friends and relatives. It was really surprising how each woman trusted me, and was interested and eager to participate. I’ve also included a self-portrait, as I don’t separate myself from this collective female experience.
Can you tell us a bit more about this wedding dress-related superstition? Generally, women keep their gowns because they believe it will help keep a marriage happy forever – but it’s also a memory of a key event in their life. Some worry if they sell or give the dress away it will negatively affect them – maybe another woman will marry in it and then divorce, or be buried in it. The dress is such a big part of their identity that they’re afraid if something happens to it, bad things will happen to them, too. The veil also has a special significance, and preserving it is even more important than saving the dress. Women are told by their grannies to keep the veil, hide it, and not let anybody see or touch it. That is the prerequisite for a strong, forever marriage.
What do the women do with their dresses? Are they stored in the back of a cupboard or on display? Those who want to preserve the gown store them in plastic bags somewhere in their cupboards. Others transform their dresses and veils into different items: toys for grandchildren; clothes for dolls; graduation party gowns for their daughters; or a costume for Christmas celebrations.
Has keeping the dresses proven successful so far? Five of the women in this project are divorced; only one of them married for the second time. Two women were on the verge of a break-up. All of them believed in the ritual still. Statistics show almost 50 per cent of marriages break up each year, but women seem to trust in superstitions and beliefs more than numbers and common sense. For the widows, the gowns are just a memory – a bittersweet recollection.
Do you have your own dress stored away? I do keep my dress, and have made this decision absolutely subconsciously. Nobody told me to do it; it was so natural. Perhaps, that’s what I was trying to say with my series: often women act subconsciously where marriage is concerned. Influenced by society, which prescribes that ‘normal women’ must get married, and each woman wants it.
What have you learnt from this project? That I’m strong and determined – more than I thought, and maybe more than society wants to see in a woman. I was pretty angry at the beginning of the project, but my anger transformed into compassion and acceptance of women’s choices and my own choice. That’s the most valuable achievement for me.