Margaret Rizzuto

Project Statement: Dare Me, Margaret Rizzuto

‘Invisibility Syndrome’ isn’t a metaphor—it’s a lived experience. As women age, we are dismissed, overlooked, and essentially invisible. It doesn’t seem to matter how brilliant, beautiful, or accomplished we’ve been—we vanish. No one is exempt. I know—because I’m living it. And I’ve come to realize I’m far from alone.

While this is a deep and often painful truth, I was determined that this project not feel hopeless. I want to illuminate it, to name it, and to push back—loudly. No—no, we do not have to accept this erasure. We will not accept it. Dare Me is a refusal. It’s also a reclamation.

It has taken us a lifetime to arrive at this place—through pain and joy, growth and hard-won wisdom—and we deserve not just to be seen, but, dare I say, celebrated.

To bring this evolution into visual form, I found an unlikely ally: Flo, a beautifully crafted, mature doll from Poland. She became my muse for this project, embodying the vulnerability, acceptance, and defiance of aging with grace. This work is for every woman who’s been made to feel small in the very years she’s grown into her full power.

We’ve earned the right to be seen—fully, fiercely. The dare is ours to take.

Artist Bio

Margaret Rizzuto is a Providence, Rhode Island–based photographer working in both traditional photography and Intentional Camera Movement (ICM). Her work looks at the tension between what is hidden and what is revealed, using abstraction to explore how personal experience shapes perception.

Largely self-taught, Margaret spent over 15 years as a portrait photographer in New York. She has studied with Jennifer Thoreson, Joyce Tenneson, and other teachers, and has pursued continued education through the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Santa Fe Workshops, the Griffin Museum of Photography, and additional programs.

She is an exhibiting member of the the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, and The Bristol Art Museum. Her work has been shown in juried exhibitions and group shows.