TITLE: SKIN (The Scars that Remind)

SKIN (The Scars that Remind) is not just a photography project—it’s my scream in a world that prefers silence over scars. This black and white image is a portrait of pain carved into my body by a disease that’s stolen pieces of my life. Hidradenitis Suppurativa is brutal. It doesn’t just hurt—it isolates, disfigures, and shames. I have lived through the burning, the bursting, the blood, the infection, and the healing that never really feels like healing. I have dressed wounds in secret and cried in showers so no one could hear.

This photograph is a confrontation. With society. With myself. With every moment I’ve stared at my skin and wished it looked “normal.” There’s nothing curated or soft here—just truth. The kind that seeps from open wounds and festers under the surface. The kind that makes you ache and question why pain like this is invisible to most. Why we hide the parts of us that need the most love.

Stripped of color, the images force you to look—really look. At the folds, the flare-ups, the scars that aren’t just skin deep. These aren’t blemishes; they’re battlefields. Every mark has a memory. Every line has a moment behind it when I wanted to give up—but didn’t.

This series is for every person who’s ever been told to cover up, to stay quiet, to smile through the pain. It’s for the ones who feel like they’re too “damaged” to be seen. I am baring my body, my story, and my suffering—not for sympathy, but for connection.

Because in these scars is survival. In this skin, there is still strength. And in these images, there is proof that even the most broken parts of us can still be art.

AUTHOR: Destineé Spruell (United States)

Destineé, known as “Your Favorite Shooter,” is a passionate creative director, photographer, and entrepreneur behind “Awaken Your Destineé” and “Just How Life Goes.” As a Black lesbian woman living with chronic illnesses like Hidradenitis Suppurativa and PASH Syndrome, she transforms pain into purpose. Through heartfelt storytelling, apparel, and advocacy, she empowers others, raises awareness, and creates safe spaces for healing and connection.