Denise Felkin

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work.
I am an independent photographer and photography lecturer. I studied a Fine Art degree and have a Masters, with Distinction, in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism. Beginning in 2015, I invited childfree / childless people to bring their duvet covers to my studio, lie on a mattress unclothed in the foetal position, whilst I shot them from above. I photographed 50 women. In 2019, Mum's Not The Word was released as a 112-page photobook, with images, captions and essays.

The project quickly received exposure in the Sony World Photography, Julia Margaret Cameron and National Open Art awards. Exhibited at Somerset House and Mall Galleries, and across the UK and Europe. Published in iPaper and Guardian Weekend magazine.

Next, I photographed men, then made work from my childfree point of view. The male series was published in Loupe magazine in 2022. The recent zine, 0void: The Art of Not Having Kids, won the silver prize in the book / documentary category of the Tokyo International Foto Awards, 2023.

2. Has writing always been a focus for you or was it a Plan B?
I always knew I did not want to be a parent, and writing is something that came to me when I started studying and working in photography. I use words to reinforce the narrative, add supplementary information to images. Text is there to steer the viewer away from overthinking the meaning of the image. A photograph needs a title, captions and statement / essay. Through the pairing of photography and writing I can communicate a cause.

3. How do you explore ideas or find inspiration for your work?
Most ideas come from within me. Whether personal, subcultures or political. I am inspired by people and life around me. I keep a personal journal to write and evidence ideas as they arise. I look at contemporary and historic photography, painting and sculpture for inspiration, visit art / photography exhibitions, watch movies, Netflix, read select newspaper articles, and read and listen to books and music. I bookmark or create screenshots as I come across information on the internet and save in a research folder. Once an idea is conceived, I talk to people, and invite them to be photographed. In some projects I use direct quotes from participants.

4. What does the process of writing involve for you?
Once I have nailed my idea, I will write lists of what I want to include in my journal. Usually, I’m prompted to write more by an open call or competition that may want further information. Over the past six months I started to write morning pages, in which I adapted to write when I feel like it. I usually do this on a day I am working in my studio. In my journal I can write freely with a handwritten flow. I have found that this is a way that I am more comfortable with, as I can write from the heart, and test ideas on the page. Other times I write in a Word document, and edit and re-edit.

I like to feel comfortable when writing. I’m happy doing this from my home or studio. Once I’ve started there is an enthusiasm not to stop. Completion is usually prompted by a deadline, or I probably would never finish.

I ask someone I trust to proof-read. I find it awkward if a proof-reader changes my voice. When this happens, I think of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting and how his text, if altered, would lose its meaning.

5. And what does writing then also give you in return?
A sense of frustration followed by accomplishment, something that rounds up a project. A voice to the unheard, invisible. A connection to my audience.

6. Has seeing your work in print changed how you view yourself, and also how you view your NoMo status?
I love seeing my work in print, but if I see the flaw, there is a feeling of disappointment. For example, text might be altered, an important line extracted, then the content sounds incomplete. Or the editor might choose someone else to write the article. I think the message comes across more fittingly if the writer does not have children.

On a positive note, seeing my work in print feels an accomplishment my work is reaching a wider audience. Other people (from an editorial point of view) are sharing my views. Seeing my work out there confirms my childfree status. And clarifies that this is what I am meant to be doing. I wonder if I had children, what the heck would I be photographing now?

7. Tell us about the wider reception that you’ve had to sharing your story - has it changed how others have viewed you and your identity as a non-parent?
It all started back in 2015, when I began shooting Mum’s Not the Word. That there were other people out there who did not want kids. It was a revelation that this was a consensus between me and the five original childfree participants.

I got shortlisted in the people category and the project got worldwide exposure. I received recognition for my photography and point of view. As it snowballed, people started responding to my open call for more participants. Especially childless and childless-by-circumstance women. When these got in touch to volunteer, I did not want to segregate and agreed. New people would drive from out of town; London, Leeds, Essex. These women were strangers, and willing to come to my studio and bare all to me.

Whizzing forward to 2020, when I exhibited during Brighton Photo Fringe, and in lockdown conditions. Each of the audience that came into the gallery read each of the 50 individual captions on the participants' views of their childless / childfree status. People thanked me for sharing such a diverse range of stories of birth and death, choice, freedom, pain and regret. The feedback I got from the wider audience was "I did not know people thought like that."

8. How do you feel about the current representation of childless and/or childfree people in literature?
Female authors: Margaret Atwood, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Layne Redmond and Meggan Watterson are the trailblazers for sources and inspiration of my ideas.

From art / photography / media point of view childless and/or childfree people are underrepresented, and that is why I started working on this surprisingly taboo but important subject. Over a decade ago, not long before I started, I’d relish reading articles in The Guardian celebrating Helen Mirren or Tracey Emin. The headline would read ‘The pram in the hall argument.’ I thought this sounded old fashioned. However, it was a revelation for me to hear people publicly speak out about how it was okay not to want kids, in a positive way. Something I had never experienced before.

9. What would you like the publishing world to know about non-parents, both as writers and readers, and our stories?
Motherhood can be a myth, not everybody’s story is the going to be same. There is change in terms of younger people’s perspectives and more people are opting out of parenting. We should all be equal regardless of our family status, but how can we be when we are not even represented in the equality and diversity law?

10. What future plans do you have, especially for your writing?
I’m making zines. and will be showing / selling these at Peckham24s’ A Bigger Book Fair (17-19 May 2024). The theme of the contemporary photography festival is 'Back to the Future'. I will present a curated collection of old and new photobooks and zines relating to people that are
not parents.

In my next chapter, I want to document the value of leaving descendants. I’ll look back instead of forward to focus on ancestry and heritage.