Frances Bukovsky
No one who is aged 23, that is not in the medical profession, should know terms like Sjogren's Syndrome, Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, Psoriatic Arthritis, Endometriosis or Hyperplasia. Most especially when that person suffers from all of these things and is in a battle to improve her own life and live one that is pain and symptom-free. Oh, and what if this person’s immediate family all suffer from other health concerns as well? Consider this while the bills pile up from the health care system in a first world country like the United States of America, and it’s hard to have any fucks left to give. The difference here is that this person is Frances Bukovsky, and she has plenty left to give and is not only doing her damnedest to fight back and win, but she, with camera in hand, is documenting her battle every step of the way. From my eyes, however, she actually appears just like everyone else, though someone with an iron will and determination that puts pro athletes to shame.
Documenting your own sickness, vulnerability, and trying times with this much heart and soul catches people’s attention, and I already know that Frances is going places. She’s up to her neck with recovery from surgery, but her future is clearly one of success. Even at this early stage of one’s career, there are times when we need to examine what makes that person tick, for their ways are a key to developing heartfelt and poignant work. Most certainly, Frances Bukovsky holds this key and I want to inform you that she knows things you are going to want to discover. Age is relative, and experience comes from all sorts of places known and unknown. Let’s not forget that the photographic world is a community and we all have something to contribute. A debt of gratitude to Frances for her time and energy here, for she is a force to be reckoned with.
Bio -
Frances Bukovsky is a South Florida documentary photographer focused on everyday experiences shaped by chronic illness and human perspective. Bukovsky was born and raised in Upstate New York and moved to attend Ringling College of Art and Design where she obtained a BFA in Photography and Imaging in 2018. At the age of 18, she began being diagnosed with autoimmune disease, inspiring her to focus on the day to day lives of chronic illness patients in her photography work.
Bukovsky began her work with chronic illness in 2016 by documenting the lives of her immediate family who are also challenged with chronic diseases. The ongoing project developed from those first images, A Family of Complicated Bodies, was featured on Ain’t Bad’s website in 2018, as well as exhibited as part of the Senior Thesis Showcase at Ringling College of Art and Design the same year.
Currently, Bukovsky is tackling the conversation around gynecological health issues and the treatments for them in her project Where the Red Flowers Bloom, from which select images have been printed in publications such as Darkside Collective’s Map to the Darkside, and Soft Lightning Studio’s Vol. 1.
Interview -
Michael Kirchoff: Welcome, Frances, I’m very happy to have your attention in doing this interview. I know you are quite occupied at the moment, and we will certainly address that in these questions. To start, why don’t you fill us in on how photography caught your attention and where your early motivations came from for choosing it as a profession.
Frances Bukovsky: Photography and the arts were so present in my childhood that it was impossible for me to imagine a career outside of the arts. I spent a lot of my infancy in my great-aunt’s video editing studio where my mother worked as a graphic designer, so I jokingly say that I’ve got 23 years of video editing and Photoshop experience. I remember making my first book with my mother when I was 5 using a scanner to scan in toys and photoshopping in computer painted landscapes. When my parents gave me my first cameras, I fell in love with the way photography allowed me to explore the world around me and share myself through art.
Funnily enough, I actually started off college as an illustration major because I was terrified that making a career out of photography would make me hate it. While I still enjoy drawing and find it to be an important outlet for me, it wasn’t my true passion and by the end of the first semester I had decided to follow my passion and jump into photography and imaging.
Photographs to me had always been about connecting to others and I wanted to build a career telling stories that sparked conversations between people. Anthony Bourdain was my hero as a young teen and Parts Unknown was a depiction of everything I wanted from life: travel, snarky humor, experiencing new things, and understanding the human condition a little better. For me, photography is the media that allows me access to those things the most.
MK: I think in order to get right to the heart of the matter, why don’t you give us a synopsis of your project, Where the Red Flowers Bloom, which we are showing here.
FB: Where the Red Flowers Bloom is a self-biographical exploration of life with chronic illness with an in depth focus on endometriosis, adenomyosis, and endometrial hyperplasia. I began this project in April 2019 after being diagnosed with endometriosis via laparoscopic surgery, and I continue to shape it now after a total hysterectomy in January 2020. The images show moments of my everyday life that have been shaped by disease, whether they are moments of pain and bleeding, inside hospital rooms, isolation and fatigue, or the mental toll these diseases take. While I document primarily myself through this project, I am only 1 of millions of individuals diagnosed with endometriosis worldwide.
MK: I cannot imagine where the strength to document your own pain and suffering comes from. In addition, you are also documenting the health concerns of your entire immediate family, is that correct?
FB: Yes, I began documenting my family in 2016 during a class for college and developed my undergraduate thesis off of that work. Each individual in my family has multiple autoimmune and chronic illnesses that have impacted their life in a multitude of ways. A Family of Complicated Bodies focuses on the mental, physical, and financial effects of being chronically ill and allows the viewer a step inside of our home to offer a chance to see behind the curtain of day to day life with illness.
We began the project as a discussion between the four of us, of things that they would like to say. A theme that was discussed was how constant chronic illness can be; even on good days symptoms can be present, and just because a good day occurs does not mean someone is cured or getting better. Another topic we decided to explore was how crippling medical debt can be and how the financial burden of being sick adds to stress, and how that, in turn, adds to illness. They’ve always been given the option of pulling images that they feel uncomfortable with, however they’ve never asked me to remove a single image.
I feel very fortunate to have such an understanding and supportive family that sees value in my photography. Each one of them has felt like they have not been entirely heard by doctors they have seen, have faced social stigma due to their illness, and live in chronic pain. My father has worked in the medical field for over 20 years and has seen how many doctors do not fully understand the impact of chronic illness on their patients, so he would like to see my photography help to start the conversations necessary to change that.
MK: The facts are also that when I’d proposed doing this interview with you, you had just undergone major surgery. In doing so we had to take some time for you to recover, and I write questions for you when you felt up to it. This is all so current in the midst of what is hopefully some long term relief from your symptoms and pain. How have you managed since the operation and are you currently making photographs along the way even now?
FB: My recovery has been mostly uneventful, which after the rough start to the year I am very thankful for. I’m still experiencing high levels of fatigue and pain, however it feels much more like a healing pain than a diseased one. It is a long road to being fully recovered, however my surgeon is very confident based on what she saw in surgery that my life will be much improved, and hopefully with less inflammation occurring, the rest of my autoimmune diseases might be less symptomatic day to day.
Documenting the healing process has been a part of my daily creative practice alongside shooting for fun. Giving my mind something to focus on while my body is at rest has been crucial for me during my bed ridden times. It keeps my mental health in check and helps pass the time while allowing me to feel productive. Of course, taking breaks for some quality Netflix binging and reading is also very necessary for healing.
MK: The vulnerability shown in your photographs is something that gives this project great strength. Are there ever moments where this is more difficult or something that you would rather not be focusing on? How has showing yourself in this light affected your own well being and do you feel that it also affects your creative process?
FB: I think in many ways photography has helped me create a purpose beyond surviving day to day, so while the subject matter focuses on disease, the act of photography allows me a release from constantly caring for a sick body. It is hard not to focus on a disease that has shaped every aspect of one’s life and is a constant reminder, so this project has given me a way to reshape the role of illness in my life. Chronic illness can come with a lot of mental darkness, so there are some days where I set aside the project to take care of myself, however I have come to find that the photographs remind me so much more of what I have survived rather than what I have yet to face.
Surprisingly, committing to sharing this work has improved my well-being. I feel very fortunate to have found a supportive community through my work, and it has given me the chance to talk about very isolating experiences and feel less alone. I’ve also felt even more motivated to continue a lifestyle that supports my physical and mental health through speaking with others and having a visual record of what I have been through over the past year.
As far as my creative process, I notice I spend more time thinking about the necessity of each piece in relation to the others to create a cohesive project. If I am going to show myself in such a revealing way, I would like that representation to be as authentic as possible and with as much meaning and intention and I can manage. Because my images are shared mainly on a very saturated platform, Instagram, it pushes me to consider new ways of expressing ideas. It is easy to take photographs of scars, but do they really convey the experience of what I and so many other patients go through? Can a cluttered nightstand convey a scattered mind?
MK: You’ve been doing this knowing that things are far from over, but do you see a day where this won’t have to be an ongoing project?
FB: I see this work changing, similarly to how A Family of Complicated Bodies has changed over the years. I am planning on working with others who have experienced chronic illness and develop bodies of work that speak to different issues in healthcare. I feel a deep calling to continue opening dialogues about chronic illness and communicate the need for more education at the professional medical level about caring for patients who deal with complex diseases.
There are a lot of issues in the American healthcare system that we don’t speak about openly, and while we have made big strides in recent years toward highlighting these issues, we have a long way to go. Conditions like endometriosis and other reproductive diseases, the inadequate care given to disabled children in state or foster custody, and the power of insurance companies to dictate care are areas that I am deeply passionate about and plan on working with throughout my career.
MK: In order for you to conceive and execute this as a project, your entire family must clearly be on board. How has their involvement affected how you make these images, and do you receive their full time support for what you are working on?
FB: I feel so fortunate to receive my family’s support of my work, as I recognize it isn’t always the case for artists, especially artists that are working in more sensitive subject areas. My parents tend to be my sounding board when I’m thinking of ways to discuss aspects of illness through imagery, and they tolerate very kindly the rants I can spin myself into about chronic illness treatment, expense, lack of research, and everything in between. I can’t imagine many mothers being okay with sitting alongside their incredibly sick daughter in a self portrait after staying 3 sleepless nights in a hospital without a shower, yet mine was even willing to press the shutter release when I asked her to.
Involving my family in the project has let me explore not only the emotions that I go through experiencing illness, but the emotions of those that have supported me the entire way. It made me see even more clearly that illness never just affects those that are suffering from it, but those around them as well.
MK: What is the long term and primary objective in creating Where the Red Flowers Bloom? Is there a goal in mind for the work, and how do you wish people to respond to it?
FB: The long term objective for this project is to raise awareness and motivate research for endometriosis as well as provide medical professionals with an understanding of how this disease affects their patients outside of the doctor’s office. I would like to see this project as a photo book that captures my experience, however I am also investigating more accessible ways of creating print materials so that the work may exist in a more educational space as well as an artistic space. Endometriosis is a largely misunderstood disease with a lot of false information out there about it, so I feel a responsibility to approach my work from an objective, educational standpoint as well as a subjective, personal one.
I want to educate doctors and patients to prevent stories like mine from happening. The doctors I went to before finding an endometriosis excision specialist did not know enough about the disease to know how to treat it. I was placed on hormonal treatments that made me incredibly sick due to my other conditions and told that it was the only treatment available. After my first surgery with a specialist, she was surprised at how severe my endometriosis was considering the first surgeon claimed to have removed it. My most recent surgery in January found endometriosis again, demonstrating how aggressive it can be.
My case is not unique, and my story is not the worst out there by far. I would like to be part of a movement to change the experience for endometriosis patients so that other women don’t have to go through what I’ve gone through, or if they go through it, they know they aren’t alone and have support.
MK: You’ve been involved with image making for a shorter time than many, and I wonder if you feel satisfied with what your voice is in this medium. Or, do you think that it is still a work in progress?
FB: I am a huge fan of the term “work in progress“, in fact, I began making zines around that theme to explore my voice in photography and its evolution. I shoot a wide range of subjects with a variety of processes so I am constantly exploring ways to create images. Having a background in illustration and fine arts gives me the mental freedom to ask what is important in creating a photograph, or if labeling an image as a photograph is necessary. I’ve noticed in my own artistic practice my voice tends to be how to curate the vast amount of work I am shooting.
Making images truly sparks happiness in me, so I try to shoot as often as I can to deepen my knowledge of the craft. As long as I am creating images that feel authentic to myself then I am happy with that voice, but I am always seeking improvement and expansion.
MK: Do you find it better to previsualize your images in a mindful way or work more intuitively?
FB: When it comes down to it, I do a mixture of the two. I am a huge fan of sketchbooks and often write and sketch ideas, reflect on projects I am working on, and plan out ideas. While I am shooting however, I leave the sketchbook behind and rely on what has sunk into the subconscious to create images. It also depends on the type of work I am creating. Lomography has become a type of sketching for me, so while I am behind a Holga I am working mostly intuitively and capturing whatever comes to mind. For a more thought out project like Where the Red Flowers Bloom, I might start out shooting with an idea in mind of what I would like to create, however I always leave space for experimentation.
MK: Is there work by another artist that you are currently paying attention to more than anything else? Does the work of others inspire you to make photographs?
FB: When I was first beginning Where the Red Flowers Grow, sometime in the weeks following my first laparoscopy when I was diagnosed with endometriosis and I began making images, I found Georgie Wileman’s series This is Endometriosis. The photographs captivated me and reflected what I had just begun to go through, and perhaps most importantly, showed me that I was part of a very diverse community. Endometriosis does not discriminate based on race or gender identity. Her work gave me courage to share the handful of images I had begun to make and propelled me to begin the research and image-making that has informed the project thus far.
I am also a very avid Instagram user and the community of photographers/artists I have found on there inspires me daily. Nat Raum (@Natraum) who works with themes of sexuality, trauma, and anxiety produced a zine titled October is Heavy in January that has heavily inspired me to pursue bookmaking more actively as an artist. Ethan Early (@Ethan.Early) is a friend who creates intimate portraits as well as captures everyday scenes in a way that always inspires me to push the way I document the world around me and to try new ways of approaching portraits.
MK: I’ve mentioned that you are fairly new to photography while also making great strides with it. In the midst of this, you seem to have also discovered using traditional film to add to your projects. Why is this the case?
FB: The darkroom is where I really fell in love with photography. I grew up in a tiny rural town in upstate NY and my highschool miraculously had a small black and white darkroom. I believe there were only about 9 of us in the class all together so much of the time I had the darkroom all to myself. I’d often miss other classes to work on printing, and I loved all of it, the smell of the chemicals, the magic of exposing photographic paper, the physicality of holding the final print - to me it was the best thing.
Then, I took another black and white film course at Columbia University of New York and it cemented the passion for film in me. I spent an entire summer wandering the streets of New York City documenting street life, developing my own film, and creating a portfolio of prints under a fantastic instructor, Rola Khayyat. Holding a physical piece of film has a certain charm to it that I love.
I think there are several benefits to shooting film alongside digital. The act of being out with a film camera opens up conversations - it always surprises me who I meet while shooting film that has some connection to the art form. I also enjoy the way film forces you to be present and the possibility of the environment interacting with the physical negative. Batch developing my film a few times a year allows me to practice having an emotional distance when editing work which then informs my editing flow when working digitally. The process of film, whether I’m focusing on a ground glass with my Yashica or shooting double exposures with my Holga, feels very satisfying.
MK: I have to tell you how much I think that the zines you are creating with film are something quite special. What prompted you to make these and will this also be an aspect of your creative process moving forward?
FB: Thank you very much! In 2019 I had just finally settled down after a period of moving nearly constantly over two years and I realized how much film I had sitting around that I had not even scanned. As I scanned it, I realized there was a lot of work that spoke to me, however I didn’t know how to organize it into any of the bodies of work I was working in at the time. Then, I was considering the idea of portraying whole years as works in progress, a term most artists are familiar with. The resulting zine, wip 23, then came about after reflecting the tone of my personal year and allowing the photographs that spoke to that tone create an abstract narrative throughout the work. Moving forward I think the yearly zine is here to stay as a way to reflect and create something that is both personal and creatively freeing, and I would like to explore the power of zines to assemble ideas relatively quickly and in an accessible way and distribute them.
MK: For the in-between times when you are not suffering from chronic pain, you work professionally as a photographer as well. What else are you shooting, and do you see your documentary work as being the primary genre you wish to pursue?
FB: Yes, I’ve been freelancing as a photographer for a little over 6 years in a variety of genres including fashion, e-commerce, food, product photography, headshots, and family photos. Over the past year I have been aiming to pull the focus more toward documentary, and I am particularly interested in working with families to create non-traditional family photographs that are more intimate and personalized than the usual studio portraits. Working with musicians and documenting live concerts is another interest of mine that I would like to return to once I am physically able to. I am also highly interested in photojournalism and working in an editorial space, so I am actively pursuing a path in that direction as I become able to work again.
MK: I’ve followed your Instagram account since first discovering your work that was submitted to a call for entry, so I should ask this as well - Do you often engage in or see value in social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram for promoting your work to new audiences?
FB: I definitely see a value in Instagram, though I can’t speak to Twitter or Facebook as I stick to Instagram, Linkedin, and Behance for my social media. Though I use it as a place to show new work or work that does not reside on my website with the goal to reach new audiences, the real power I see in the platform is the ability to form and participate in communities. I cannot tell you the number of meaningful conversations and relationships I have formed as an active participant on Instagram. A great deal of my recent opportunities have also stemmed from engaging authentically on Instagram and wanting to engage in communities I otherwise wouldn’t have access to because of geographical location.
MK: In closing, I’m wondering what your plans are for the future, both short term and long term? Also, is there anything else you feel we should know about your work and process?
FB: For the immediate future I plan on continuing Where the Red Flowers Bloom and adding to A Family of Complicated Bodies, which I would love to re-edit into a new book as a revision of the one I created for my undergraduate thesis. I am also working on a few new book projects which will be announced later in 2020 as well as curating an exhibition for Darkside Collective around the theme of Nostalgia, the call for which ends March 12th. Beyond that, I plan on continuing to work on documentary projects that call for action in healthcare and exploring subjects with personal connections to myself and my family.
MK: Thank you for your time and energy in doing this interview with me. Your voice in this project helps paint a picture of the health care industry that isn’t often seen so intimately, and I applaud your sensibilities and care in bringing this to light. You have my continued attention, and I hope to hear more positive things about your health and the health of your family in the future. We may have to look back at this as a “remember when” moment and conduct an update as your career and photographs progress. Best wishes to you always, Frances.
You can find more of Frances's work on her website here.
You can also find her here on Instagram.
All photographs, ©Frances Bukovsky.
