Celebrating love in all its guises, photographer Daisy Walker and fashion designer Bella Freud have come together to create a new portrait series for the charity Solace Women’s Aid. The images, shot by Walker, are a tender look at partnerships as well as self-love, unencumbered by gender or appearance.
Walker’s work is characterised by singular depictions of the female form, often nude and surrounded by nature. Her images are simultaneously sensual and empowering celebrations of the women they capture. Walker herself is a survivor of sexual abuse and has spoken openly about how photographing the nude body has served as a cathartic tool for processing her own trauma.
This project with Freud marks Walker’s second fundraising series for Solace Women’s Aid, which offers free support to survivors of rape and domestic abuse through therapeutic services, accommodation, training programmes, and more. Prints of the images will be launched alongside Freud’s latest fragrant candle, titled ‘Love is the Drug’, with 25 per cent of proceeds going directly to the charity.
Says Walker of the collaboration, ‘It seemed natural for Bella and I to come together for Solace Women’s Aid and celebrate self-love, amorous love, and body love with her new candle for Valentine’s Day. Bella is a fountain of knowledge for reference imagery in photography and film, and we instinctively gelled over a shared love of visual artists and projects aimed at supporting women in their darkest hours.’ §
