9 Months
© Stephanie GengottiNine months is the title of a rather unsuccessful Hollywood comedy in which Samuel Faulkner, a child psychologist, has the months of pregnancy available to acquire the necessary maturity to sustain his role as a father. Samuel Faulkner is 40 years old.
The mothers portrayed by Stephanie Gengotti still haven’t celebrated their 18 Springtime’s.
This photographical journey starts from Naples, from the life of 6 girls. It tells a different kind of story, the story of wanted pregnancies, of indissoluble loves like only teenagers can weave, of grandmothers who were in turn ‘childhood mothers’, of families that are present, of small tenderness and great emotional inspiration.
A tattoo that adapts to a new life, a conspiratorial chat between women in the entrance hall, a phone to say ‘I love you’, a vague expression of anguish and an imperceptible tingling on your fingers as you think ‘can I make it?’. Behind their windows, silent and hidden, we wonder whether it’s irresponsibility or courage.
In the meanwhile they look out on a new stage of life. Carla, Carmela, Marsia, Virna, Alessandra, Angela and their children want to grow and proceed together.
If Italian society and politics, still almost entirely male strongholds, don’t want to ‘see them’ because they fear them as a system anomaly, these childhood mothers want to use their own strength to conquer and build hope and future, with no need for concessions or recompense.
This strength will soon convince Italy to become a mature, adult country.
(Text written by Pamela Piscicelli)
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