“This high school graduation photograph reminds me how young I was when I arranged for and survived a ‘back-alley,’ illegal abortion three years before the Roe v. Wade ruling. Holding this photograph now, nearly 50 years later, I think about the other women who weren’t so lucky back then and the people now who continue to be denied access to abortion services in some areas of our country.

By supporting Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, I feel like I’m doing a small part to facilitate access to services in safe and caring environments. It pains me to see misinformed protesters trying to persuade and cajole young people walking into the clinic to change their minds, as if they know what’s best for someone’s life other than their own.

Kaltoum Alibrahimi is a twenty-three year old queer, Moroccan-American photographer that uses the camera as a tool to manipulate the gaze and point the lens at those who are, and have historically been, intentionally cropped out. She iterates in her work that resistance, for many, is existence. She believes that storytelling is one of the few ways that incredibly important aspects of history have not been lost and that photography is one of the honest methods left to ensure that we all remember.