The Luxury of Pain

Endometriosis is more than pain - it's a relentless tether between body and endurance. This work transforms that struggle into strength, using red as both a wound and a weapon. A reminder that awareness begins with visibility.

The Luxury of Pain

A photography series by Victoria Ellison (Tory)
Model: Zoe Driessen
Lighting and Fabric: Lauren White & Liv Gillard

“The Luxury of Pain” explores the invisible weight of endometriosis through the lens of high fashion and conceptual portraiture. In a world where pain is often dismissed, and femininity is polished into performance, this series challenges the viewer to look closer — beyond the sheen of beauty and into the architecture of suffering.

Each image is layered with symbolism: red fabric flares like blood, a corded phone constricts the body, a petrol can smolders with the heat of internal fire. Household objects — a vacuum, a frypan, an iron — nod to the everyday pressures endured in silence. The aesthetic is elevated, aspirational — and deliberately misleading.

The fashion-forward styling contrasts with the physical reality it conceals: morphine-laced hospital stays, missed diagnoses, fertility struggles, and the quiet resilience of those who live with chronic, unrelenting pain. By presenting pain as ‘luxury,’ the work confronts how society both glamorizes and ignores female suffering.

Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 individuals with a uterus — but diagnosis often takes years, and treatment remains inconsistent and inaccessible. This is not a rare condition. This is a disregarded one.

“The Luxury of Pain” invites viewers to confront what can’t be seen on the surface — and challenges them to ask: who gets to suffer in silence, and who gets to be believed?