The 50 Over 50 Project

Three years ago, Susanna Tanner was in the middle of life changes and job hunting when she realized as a woman in her 50s, she was being overlooked.

Aware of society's perception of aging women, Tanner considered her options. She decided to take her established photography business from part-time to full-time and opened Susanna Tanner Photography in the Just Love Studios building.

Then Tanner launched a mission to propel and empower women over the age of 50. The endeavor would combine an idea with her talent as a photographer, art creator, and storyteller.

The 50 Over 50 project challenges cultural perceptions that women aged 50 and over are no longer beautiful by society's standards and less capable than their younger peers.

"You start to feel invisible," Tanner said. "This project really was just an effort to provide a platform for women to tell their story and to say, 'I'm still here, I'm still valuable, I'm still beautiful, and I still have so much to contribute.'"

Her goal was to create a supportive community for women by showcasing their stories, ambitions, challenges, and connections to others. Participants were authentically photographed to reveal their character, wisdom, talent, and/or spirit. The purpose, Tanner said, was to remind everyone beauty doesn't diminish with age.

From the first photo to the exhibition in Reid Health's MacDowell Gallery, Tanner found the project had unanticipated connections and experiences. Moments brought times of joy, laughter, craziness, tears, and reflection.

Women shared their stories of growing up, falling in love, marriage, raising children, divorce, health challenges, anniversaries, work, and life.

For Tanner 50 Over 50 is more than a project. Connecting with each woman and their story would also serve as a comfort during a time of loss.

Majestic 50
50 Over 50 evolved after Mary Jo Clark of Richmond wanted to celebrate her 80th birthday by surprising her family with photos at Tanner's studio.

Tanner had thought about working on a 50 Over 50 project, she said. Clark shared how much she liked the session and wished others could have the same experience. They then formed a five-woman focus group, ages 40-80, to determine the project's potential.

The focus group went through the same process as Clark did for her session - including having their hair and makeup done professionally - before gathering to talk about their photo sessions. The active conversation provided valuable feedback.

"Based on their responses, I realized there was a separation when you turn 50, generally speaking, and your life changes significantly. The 40s are the older age of youth and the 50s are the youth of the older age." -- Susanna Tanner

Initially, Tanner approached a couple of women to ask if they would participate. From there, women read about the project on social media or heard about it from those who participated, and it took off.

Participants were from the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, and Generation X. The majority were from Wayne County with others from Fayette County, Indiana, and Preble County, Ohio. Venna Werner of Richmond was the eldest participant at age 93 when her portrait was taken.

Beth Harrick of Richmond is a longtime fan of Tanner's work, and she was eager to participate.

"Susanna has the capacity to execute complex, meaningful, and deeply intimate, transformative experiences for both the women she photographs and the community experiencing her art," Harrick said. "Susanna's style integrates storytelling into her photographic and artistic process, and the results are a compelling and intimate portrayal of personal power and vulnerability."

Ardene Felsman Schoeffler of Richmond participated because it looked fun, and she wanted to preserve her history. She grew up in Traverse City, Michigan, and remembers spending summer days with friends at the beach.

Despite their hesitation to be photographed, Schoeffler and her friends posed for photos that are now keepsakes.

"We're younger, thinner, and having so much fun," Schoeffler said. "No one wanted to get their picture taken then. Now looking back, I think 'Wow, how great we look.'"

Schoeffler is in her 50s and wonders how life will be in the future. Her photos will be a reminder of the effort and hard work she puts into her passions as a mentor and an entrepreneur. She's active in historic preservation, working to improve Richmond's historic neighborhoods.

"I wanted to record the now to have to look back on," Schoeffler said. "Susanna did a great job of making people feel good and relaxed. She makes people feel so comfortable."

Reservations to visual therapy
Norene Groth of Greens Fork, Indiana, planned and prepared for her day, yet the unexpected happened. She heard about the project from friends who had participated.

Groth had just completed her journey with breast cancer and scheduled a photo shoot on her 65^th birthday to celebrate. She was excited about the session, taking several outfits and props.

"I had never done anything like this before and doing it on my birthday was an added bonus," Groth said.

The portraits captured Groth's colorful and playful aspects of her personality and the emotions of the day.

"I didn't expect to get emotional, but when I was wearing the breast cancer ribbon and Susanna was talking to me, I got super emotional. I love that she used one of those photos for the exhibit. That 'outfit' was really out of my comfort zone but portrayed my breast cancer journey in a positive way. We call it coming out of the Breast Cancer Haze," she said.

For many of the women, it took additional bravery to pose in front of the camera. Part of the experience was for Tanner to nudge the participants outside their comfort zone while still providing an enjoyable session.

"Some women were more comfortable in front of the lens than others," Tanner said. "For some, the very fact they sought out the experience and were in the studio was beyond their comfort level, and that had to be enough."

Fifty women presented unique personalities and interacted differently in front of the camera. Some dressed colorfully while others were more conservative, or they included symbols and representations of who they were during the session. Each brought something different, and Tanner had to respond accordingly.

"I never knew what was going to surface during the photo shoot until we were in it. Sometimes I don't think the woman knew what was going to surface," Tanner said.

During one session, a participant told Tanner she didn't think she would cry having her photos taken. To her surprise, Tanner had captured a tear running down her cheek, and didn't know it until the image was magnified.

"This person referred to it as visual therapy," Tanner said. "I hadn't thought about it, that wasn't the initial purpose, but it just went there. I just thought it was so beautiful. This is what this is about."

Connection is strength
Of the ways 50 women could be connected, there was one overall binding thread.

Loss.

Every participant had experienced loss whether it was a career, life change, body part, or a friend, family member, child, or spouse.

Tanner could relate.

And then that binding thread tightened when the unthinkable happened.

Tanner's husband, Tim, appeared healthy. Then on May 17, 20203, she awoke to find he had unexpectedly passed away. He was 55. She would later learn Tim had an unknown heart condition. The Tanners were married for 32 years. They raised their daughters, Madison and Kennedy, in Richmond.

At the time, Tanner was preparing the 50 Over 50 project for exhibition at Reid, and it was put on hold briefly until she was ready to return. She had been preparing the women's stories to publish with their portraits and found a reminder of the connections and the supportive community that had been created.

"Right now, I'm in the thick of it (following the loss)," Tanner said in September while hanging the artwork in the gallery. "They (the women) are far enough away from loss, that they have had time to process it. I am going back and reading their stories again, and now I am seeing them from different eyes. One woman lost her husband at 54. He was in a farming accident, at relatively the same age as Tim. It impacted me the first time, but now I relate very differently to her."

During the exhibition's opening reception, Tanner shared how the women helped her.

She said, "At 56, I now find myself at yet another transition. While some of our stories are being fully realized, I'm just beginning to live into this chapter on my own. Many of the women in this project have talked about how support and respect in particular have served them during difficult and painful life moments, and now their presence - their words, their images - are helping me."

Tim supported Tanner's art and the project as an active listener and often previewed the portraits as she edited images in her home office. Tanner believes Tim would have been pleased with the exhibition.

"He would say he is really proud of me. He might be a little surprised to see it hanging all together as a series, but he would say, 'I'm really proud of you for doing that,'" Tanner said.

Tanner's portrait was part of the exhibition and included a memorial to Tim.

Exhibition exceeds expectations
50 Over 50 was on exhibition in Reid's MacDowell Gallery in 2023 from August to October.

Each portrait had the woman's story and an "Advice to My Younger Self," a words of wisdom section. Twenty of the portraits had an audio recording in collaboration with Kate Jetmore, a Richmond native and host of "The Listen Podcast." Tanner also collaborated with Suzanne Allain Designs to professionally frame the portraits.

The exhibition's second purpose was to inspire women of all ages and backgrounds to take charge of their health. Some of the portraits were purchased with proceeds benefitting women's health initiatives through the Reid Health Foundation.

Shonda Kidd walked the gallery at the opening to view the exhibition, focusing on the words of wisdom.

Kidd participated in the project to be a good example for younger people. The Richmond resident grew up often hearing "no" to her ambitions, but pursued them anyway, she said. Kidd received the Mary E. Hill Scholarship and went to college, graduating with a nursing degree. Now she serves on the scholarship committee, available through the Wayne County Foundation.

"I want to represent that we have a choice. I want to see more kids in the community with access to opportunities for scholarships, and to know scholarships are available." -- Shonda Kidd

The project is helping women form new connections and opportunities to benefit others. For example, Kidd is connecting women with an interest in providing scholarship information and potential opportunities to graduating high school students. A nurse and now a pharmaceutical representative, her interest is connecting disadvantaged youth seeking healthcare careers.

"Now we're getting together with women who are like-minded and we're talking about getting some new partnerships together. This is good for the whole community," Kidd said.

With 50 women of diverse generations, backgrounds, experiences, and cultures, the exhibition also brought awareness.

"I believe people (not just women) over 50 feel discounted, and this experience proved we've much more to contribute despite our age," Groth said. "I believe this was also eye-opening for younger people who had the opportunity to see the exhibit."

Tyler Stewart first visited the exhibit in his role as a Major Gifts Officer for Reid Health Foundation. He grew up in many of the participants' homes but found he didn't know their full story, he said. He listened to the audio stories, learning more about the women he knew and their life's journey.

"It showed there's a lot of strength in vulnerability, not just with people telling their stories but also posing for the photos. It's meaningful for people," Stewart said.

Nathan Hogg of Richmond works at Reid in Nutrition and Food Services, and he is an intern with Reid's Community Benefit and Engagement while attending college. He gained a new perspective on the women and found their stories empowering.

"This exhibit taught me to live more and worry less. To be kind to each person you encounter and to make friends that are your age, older, and younger than you," Hogg said.

He said their wisdom was inspirational and non-gender specific.

"As a young man, I took their advice and will run with it," he said.

Tanner shared that Hogg sent her a text about the impact the exhibition made on him. She hadn't anticipated men or younger demographics to be interested in the project.

"It was an unexpected outcome. There's this ripple effect it has had," Tanner said.

The ripple extends from participants in the project into the lives of others. There's hope more will come from it.

"I believe Susanna has helped create something of a revolution amongst local women 50 and older," Harrick said. "Susanna captured deeply intimate renderings that helped transform how women see themselves. I hope Susanna's intimate and powerful exhibits will continue to empower women, elicit communication, and inspire the community. As a participant, I am better off because of it."

The next chapter
After the exhibition opened, Tanner took a trip with her daughters, planned before Tim passed away. They needed time together to reflect, to heal, and to start writing their next chapter. Her daughters continue their path forward: Madison's a hospice social worker, and Kennedy's pursuing a wildlife rehabilitation career.

Tanner hopes her daughters won't fear aging, and that they remember the women's words of wisdom.

"I think we're hard on ourselves when we're younger," Tanner said. "We measure ourselves against impossible standards - how we look, how we act, and what we've accomplished. Maybe that's one of the gifts of getting older is that we all realize we're kind of on the same journey. We all have a lot of the same fears and stresses. Relax, you know? People could just be a little kinder to themselves."

Tanner's continuing to travel. There are additions to the family - a future son-in-law and a dog she adopted in the fall. She's considering how to continue building the community that began through the project, as well as other professional goals.

Every day's a step forward.

"I am finding strength in the shared experiences of other women," Tanner said.