Photographer Takes Portraits Of Friends 17 Years Apart To Show How Time Transforms Us
A photographer has shared photos of her classmates taken 17 years apart to highlight the transformations people undergo throughout their lives.

Josephine Sittenfeld took the first series of portraits in 2000 when she was in her third year at Princeton University. At the time, she and her classmates were 20 years old.

Then, after attending a college reunion earlier this year, she was inspired to recreate the photos. Thankfully, her old classmates agreed.

“Reunions make people evaluate their lives and think back to their younger selves. I was curious to see whether my peers were the same or different from when we were in college,” Josephine tells HuffPost UK.

“Personally, my life has taken turns I couldn’t have imagined, but many of my interests are still the same.”

While her classmates may have changed a little externally over the past 17 years, Josephine says the largest difference among most is their confidence.

“We both change and don’t change that much over time,” she says.

“We live in a culture that’s obsessed with youth, but to me, we all seem so much more comfortable in our own skin, even if we’re no longer 20 years old.”

Josephine adds that the world in 2017 is a very different place to what is was in 2000, which has also influenced her photography.

“Back then [in 2000], the internet existed, but we still did research by reading books we checked out from the library,” she says.

“Only a few of us had cell phones0 and they didn’t work on campus. I photographed my peers with a medium-format film camera and printed the negatives in a darkroom using an enlarger.”

In contrast, her latest portraits were shot using a digital camera.

“I wanted to reference the original settings and posture but wasn’t trying to exactly replicate the original photos,” she explains.

“I picked a background that resembled the original but wasn’t too rigid about sticking to the exact spots. I made do with the spaces I had.”

Josephine took the original set of photos when she was just starting out as a photographer, but now as an established professional, she’s still drawn towards taking portraits of people in her community.

“I love stories that unfold over time and this project definitely fits into that theme,” she says

Check out more photos from the Reunion project below or visit Josephine Sittenfeld’s website to see more of her work.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/photographer-takes-portraits-of-friends-7-years-apart-to-show-the-beauty-of-ageing_uk_5a1d21d3e4b0e2ddcbb24687

All 51 Men Accused of Sexual Harassment After Weinstein

Since Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a serial predator, there have been allegations of terrifying behavior bydozens of men.

www.advocate.com/people/2017/11/28/all-51-men-accused-sexual-harassment-after-weinstein

Hunt To Pledge Independent Investigations For Families Who Endure Stillbirth

Independent investigations will be offered to grieving families who have to endure the trauma of stillbirth or life-changing injuries to their babies, the Health Secretary will announce today [28 November]. 

Jeremy Hunt will also reveal he will look into enabling, for the first time, full-term stillbirths to be investigated by coroners, as he delivers a major speech focusing on maternity safety.

And in a bid to save more than 4,000 lives, he will also outline how the Government wants to halve the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and severe birth-related brain injuries by 2025. 

The Health Secretary will say: “The tragic death or life-changing injury of a baby is something no parent should have to bear, but one thing that can help in these agonising circumstances is getting honest answers quickly from an independent investigator. 

“Too many families have been denied this in the past, adding unnecessarily to the pain of their loss.

“Countless mothers and fathers who have suffered like this say that the most important outcome for them is making sure lessons are learnt so that no-one else has to endure the same heartbreak.

“These important changes will help us to make ‎that promise in the future.”

As part of the pledge to help grieving parents, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch established earlier this year will have hundreds of cases of stillbirth, early neonatal death and severe brain injury referred to it.

The Department of Health said this NHS safety investigator, led by experts, will standardise investigations of cases of unexplained severe brain injury, intrapartum stillbirths, early neonatal deaths and maternal deaths in England, sharing findings to prevent future tragedies.

Mr Hunt will also highlight his plans for the Government to work with the Welsh government and other stakeholders as it looks closely into giving coroners powers to conduct investigations into stillbirths.

Currently, coroners can only investigate the deaths of babies who show signs of life after being born, and not the deaths of full-term babies who died prior to or during birth.

All proposals to change the law would be subject to public consultation, the Department of Health said.

Dr Clea Harmer, chief executive of Sands, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity, welcomed the announcement of independent investigations and said it is a step change which could potentially save more babies’ lives.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/independent-investigations-stillbirth-jeremy-hunt_uk_5a1d2381e4b04e8b2a84051f

Angela Lansbury Says Women ‘Must Sometimes Take Blame’ For Sexual Harassment

Angela Lansbury has given her take on the sexual misconduct cases that have engulfed the entertainment world, believing that women “must sometimes take the blame”.

The ‘Murder She Wrote’ actress told Radio Times that women making themselves attractive had “backfired on us” but added that there was “no excuse for inappropriate behaviour”.

The 92-year-old Dame says: “We have to own up to the fact women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive.

“And unfortunately it has backfired on us, and this is where we are today. We must sometimes take blame.

“Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”

She went on to say that she believed sexual misconduct in Hollywood would now stop.

“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be,” she says. “There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now – it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”

Following her comments, Rape Crisis England & Wales issued a strongly-worded statement (via The Telegraph).

It reads: “It is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or ‘provoked’ by women’s sexuality or ‘attractiveness’.

“Rape is an act of sexual violence, power and control that has little to nothing to do with sexual desire. It is as insulting to men as it is to anyone to suggest they’re unable to take responsibility for their own behaviours and that the way a woman presents herself can cause them to lose control or force them to sexually harass or assault her.

“There is no excuse or mitigation for sexual violence and there is no circumstance in which it’s even partially the victim’s or survivor’s fault. Until we accept and acknowledge that, it will be very difficult for us as a society to reduce or prevent rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or sexual abuse.”

The new issue of Radio Times is out now. www.radiotimes.com

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/angela-lansbury-says-women-must-sometimes-take-blame-for-sexual-harassment_uk_5a1d076ee4b071403b289d63