Photographer Chloe Ronco is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Pinfeathers’. To see Chloe ’s body of work, click on any photograph.
Pinfeathers tells the stories of the women in my family: my mother, my two younger sisters, and me. Our lives have been shaped by cycles of abuse, addiction, and mental illness. Experiences like ours often go unnoticed, especially among working-class families like ours. My creative practice is about making our stories seen, offering a raw, intimate portrayal of what survival looks like for us.
I started this project with my sisters when they were 12 and 16, capturing moments that reflect the struggles they face as young women. I was devastated to see my own struggles with bullying, abuse, and self-harm repeated in their lives, and I felt helpless trying to protect them. In the 2 years since I started this project, both of my sisters have attempted suicide multiple times.
Experiences like ours are not unique to us, but devastatingly common amongst young women.
I am using photography to bring my sisters and me together, to show that our lives are not disposable, to capture the beauty and resilience we share despite our fractured lives. Through intimate portraits, I aim to honor our complexity, strength, and the bond we share as a family.
These images are not just about pain; they are about love, survival, and the quiet power of familial connection.
In conversations with my mother, I’ve come to understand that her own childhood was marked by similar struggles, which have been passed down through generations. Legacies of abuse and the expectations placed upon us as women are deeply ingrained in our shared history.
Through these photographs, I seek to represent not only our family but also the countless others who face similar struggles without adequate support. I’ve used photography not only as a form of expression but also as a tool for healing and advocacy. These images are more than portraits; they are evidence of care, time, and storytelling. By documenting our reality, I hope to connect with others who feel unseen and push for greater mental health support for girls like my sisters and me. This is both my art and my responsibility.
All images and text © Chloe Ronco
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it’s a good thing, that you have found an outlet that’s not harming yourself or others, to help you tell your stories, and, the abuse we’d endured, are often, very difficult for us to realize, that sometimes, we live in the dark, not knowing that we were abused, for a very long, long, long time, until the truth is, revealed to us, and then, we go through these cycles of, doubting ourselves, questioning if what we remembered happened actually, happened, and, until we come full circle, acknowledging our abuse by those whom trusted completely and dearly, we can’t, start to, heal back up.