Photo of Pretty Young Woman In Suffragette Dress, Holding Diploma, Missing Arm For Sale

Who is this young woman holding a diploma? And why is she shielding it from view, practically hiding it behind her back? Shouldn't she be holding it up proudly in front of her? And that look of hers. She seems terribly sad given this accomplishment. As though, standing there in her suffragette's dress, she wants you to understand what an ordeal she's been through. Perhaps this is it: perhaps she's determined to let the viewer know how much she's struggled and overcome to reach this milestone in her life. Or maybe it's something a bit more prosaic. Maybe she's broken-hearted. Maybe she's just tired of a lifetime of others staring at her, of dancing around the one unavoidable fact of her existence that separates her from the masses. Who can say? What's clear though, at least for me, is this: photos come about for all types of reasons but some photos exist simply to conquer doubt.