Renee Harbers

The Disappearing Woman is a meditation on the relationship between time and femininity. This body of work is inspired by the social phenomenon known as Invisible Woman Syndrome, which refers to a study that found over 70 percent of women believe they will become “invisible” in the eyes of society as they age.

In this series, I use the camera and self-portraiture to examine myself and my surroundings, confronting the disorienting shift from attracting attention to quietly fading into the background. The work incorporates moments of melancholy and flashes of dark humor as I try to reconcile the contradiction of being present in a world that seems to look past me.

In each image I try to reflect not just this fading presence but also the quiet strength and humanity that persist beneath the surface. It’s a way of navigating what it means to lose visibility while still holding onto identity and vitality in a culture that so often marginalizes women as they age.