Sticks and Stones

Anna Neamtzu

A black and white photo of a pay phone with a thick black border around it. The payphone has graffiti on the top and sides around the phone. The phone is hanging down off its stand by the cord.

My art book called “Sticks and Stones” is documenting my experience of being born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida. Having Spina Bifida has affected every aspect of my life and it affects every part of my body. It’s known as a “snowflake” condition because every single person born with it is affected differently by it and it’s known as a degenerative condition, meaning that the people born with it, our condition gets worse as we age. There’s no cure and typically no way to prevent this from happening. My book will focus on the medical trauma that I experienced as a child due to negligence and medical malpractice. This trauma has left me with PTSD, chronic pain and mobility issues and in my book I will be discussing the events that took place and the effects that they have had in my life.

My story is something I’ve felt a lot of embarrassment, fear and shame about but now I feel like I’m finally ready to talk about it because I can do it my way, through a creative project and being an adult there’s nobody here trying to put my words in my mouth trying to tell me that things didn’t happen the way I remember.

A black and white photo of a plate on a table. On the plate are 13 striped candles that have been partially melted.
A black and white long exposure photo of the exterior of Sick Children's Hospital taken at the side of the hospital. There is a bare tree in front of the hospital, and a cloudy sky taking up almost half of the top of the photo.
A black and white long exposure photo of the exterior of Sick Children's Hospital taken at the side of the hospital. There is a bare tree in front of the hospital, and a cloudy sky taking up almost half of the top of the photo.
A black and white long exposure photo of the exterior of Sick Children's Hospital taken at the side of the hospital. There is a bare tree in front of the hospital, and a cloudy sky taking up almost half of the top of the photo.
A black and white polaroid of a hill. The hill slopes up from the right of the image where it evens out half way through the image. The top of the photo above the hill is all white. There is a grey shadow in the top left corner.
A black and white polaroid of a hill. The hill slopes up from the right of the image where it evens out half way through the image. The top of the photo above the hill is all white. There is a grey shadow in the top left corner.
A white background with 8 black lines going horizontally on the left side of the image and 4 black lines going down vertically on the right side of the image.
A black and white long exposure photo of an alley. There are sides of houses on the left of the alley and the back of a store on the right side of the alley. Behind the alley are trees.
- A black and white photo of a close up of a person’s back with their shirt pulled up. There is a long and deep scar going up their back, and another scar going across the bottom of their back. The two scars cross at the middle bottom of the person’s back.
A black and white photo of a street lamp in front of some bare trees and a cloudy sky at night. The street lamp light is blown out creating a large oval of light in the middle of the photo.
Anna Neamtzu

Anna Neamtzu

Anna Neamtzu is a queer and disabled Toronto based artist specializing in photography with an interest in mixed media art and working with archival material.

Her work has mainly been focused on landscape and street photography that puts a focus on the queer community and speaks about mental illness and childhood trauma.

Anna is attending Toronto Metropolitan University and getting her Bachelors in Photography.

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Category: Perennials

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