Pink Parachute Project
The Pink Parachute Project is an uplifting women’s empowerment image series created by Austin based photographer Teodora Pogonat. It explores women’s issues and strengths through symbolic environments. The photographer uses an actual 30 lb. pink 1967 British parachute throughout the series, to symbolize the struggles and gender issues women face throughout their lifetime. The images explore women’s uphill battles and strength when confronted with various disparities, even as they are expected to appear graceful, feminine, and owning their beauty.
This project represents women ’s innate ability to nurture while remaining independent. The dichotomy of putting on a pretty public face despite internal angst is also explored. Each woman in the series embraces the significance of their environment and in the hidden meanings of their pose.
The parachute is the symbol of resistance. The pink dress takes the metaphor further: rising above it all, and going against the wind that tries to hold women back, they conquer it all and still move forward with their essential life-giving nature intact. This same parachute also is a symbol of safety and reassurance. It takes courage to jump, sometimes into the void. Women, standing together, become each other’s pink parachute.
The launch in Austin is just the beginning of a stateside national tour with eventual landings in Denver, Miami, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Many of the current women’s movements and political statements expressed in the #Resistence or #MeToo rallies bounded up into the consciousness of millions and then fell into a media black hole after each outrage and protest. Teodora’s goal with The Pink Parachute Project is to nurture a consistent persistence in the hearts of women and to foster the message to never give up on expecting equality.
Artist’s Statement
Women bear life. Like a tree whose roots run deep and hold the earth around it together, women are the roots of society and civilization. We make the difference for future generations. Like a parachute, we take charge of our direction, steering it to land where we choose. The parachute can be thought of as an anchor, or as a tool to help reach a destination. The destination I am aiming for is full-on equality.
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We Are The Roots Of Life
Limited Edition 1/5 availableDescription: "This image was created with the intention to represent women as creators, who birth humanity, ideas, relationships and the welfare of...$195.00 – $1,800.00Laugh It Off
Limited Edition 2/10 availableDescription: "The inspiration for this image was to showcase how women are judged for their emotions, but this is also one of our strengths. We can...$100.00 – $700.00Guiding Light
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: "I created this image to remind women that we can be a guiding light in the lives of others and for our future...$100.00 – $700.00Beacons Of Hope
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: "This image is meant to represent women as a nurturing beacon of hope for future generations. I mean to symbolize that like the...$100.00 – $700.00Calm In The Face Of The Storm
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " This image is meant to represent women’s strength in the face of adversity. A reminder that we can think through...$350.00 – $700.00Dawn Of Strength
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " I created this image to represent that despite the wind pushing us back, we can find safety in the parachute and a place...$100.00 – $700.00Grace, Strength & Fortitude
Limited Edition. 1/5 availableDescription: " While the creative series started out to symbolize the struggles that we as women face, it has also become empowering by...$195.00 – $900.00Balancing It All
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " This image represents women’s innate ability to stand strong, persist and balance it all. Like a dancer balancing on a rock, women...$100.00 – $700.00Conquering
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: "This image represents that women can take control and change the direction of the narrative. While women face many issues on a daily...$150.00 – $500.00Taking Control
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " This image represents that women can take control and change the direction of the narrative. While women face many issues on a daily...$100.00 – $700.00Higher Ground
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " This image is created to represent the grace and persistence women have to “go high” in the face of the social injustices...$100.00 – $700.00Exasperated
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: "This image represents how incredibly exhausting and exasperating it can be to constantly fight one battle after another, sometimes from...$100.00 – $700.00Bracing And Fighting The Wind
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: "As I stood in front of the vast rock formations, dwarfing us in the foreground, I could only think of the issue of double standards...$100.00 – $700.00Rising Above
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " The image created is a reminder that as we continue to fight for gender equality women have to fight the labels that they are given....$100.00 – $700.00Women’s World
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: "The name of this structure is literally called “The Coral Castle” and represents “home”. The image represents the longing for...$100.00 – $700.00Swept Away
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " This piece was created to symbolize the rise above the perceptions and expectations of physical beauty that media and society...$100.00 – $700.00Cinderella’s Syndrome
Limited Edition 1/10 availableDescription: " The staircase in this image, reminiscent of Cinderella at midnight, and “DaVita” (meaning “For Life”) at the top,...$100.00 – $700.00Determination Against Uphill Battles
Limited Edition 1/5 availableDescription: "Sometimes it feels like women are up against the entire world in an uphill battle. Women have to fight so many forces to...$195.00 – $900.00Windswept
Limited Edition 2/10 availableDescription: " To me a parachute, represents substantial material, that which creates resistance and slows us down as we fall. In our...$100.00 – $550.00