It's 3:00 a.m. No way to sleep. Imaginary bedbugs chewing at me. The air is oppressive, like being buried alive. The cries of asthmatic children sniffling, screaming, sleep-talking keeps me on edge. In semi-darkness I wander among the beds, seeing mothers wrapped around their babies, like bears in hibernation. In one lower bunk, I find an exhausted mother, Pam, rocking her wailing week-old daughter. Pams face glows with inner peace. She is one of the lucky ones. She escaped an abusive relationship and found shelter here. Olive Branch Mission, Chicago. 1999

Donna Ferrato's photograph captures an intimate moment, a mother named Pam, cradling her baby in a Chicago shelter at 3 a.m. I imagine Ferrato moving through the semi-darkness, her camera a quiet observer. It is difficult to imagine being in such a vulnerable state, yet the mother's face glows with such inner peace. It's as if she's found a pocket of serenity amidst chaos. The tight crop and shallow depth of field emphasize the emotional connection between mother and child. The contrasting blacks and whites articulate both the harsh conditions of the shelter and the quiet love in Pam’s face. Ferrato's work is a powerful testament to the strength and resilience of women facing adversity. Each image captures a sense of lived experience and is a way of seeing and experiencing the world. Like many artists she uses her medium as a tool for change. It reminds us that art can be a form of embodied expression, embracing the ambiguity and uncertainty of human existence.