Women should be seen and heard -- and a new portrait series uses women's words and faces to make sure they are.

Created by Jennifer Bermon, the "Her | Self" series is a gallery of 28 black-and-white portraits of women from all walks of life, taken over the past 20 years. Bermon, a professional photographer and network TV producer, asked each of her subjects to write down what she saw in the image of herself and included each woman's response underneath her picture. The results are undeniably powerful.

"What better way to explore the source of women's body image issues than to see, and hear, from women themselves?" Bermon told The Huffington Post. "The photos give people insight into who the women really are and what story they want to tell about themselves."

The women featured in the photo series include an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, an NYC firefighter, a 74-year-old rabbi, a NASA scientist and a high school varsity rower. "I wanted to reveal their inner thoughts -- those words that they shared with other women in private conversation," Bermon wrote in her artist statement.

Bermon started the project 20 years ago when she was a student at Mills College. She described an epiphany she had one day while listening to her friends talk about what they didn't like about themselves. "They looked perfect to me. I realized, this was a part of normal, day-to-day conversation," she said. "Did they really hear what they were saying about themselves? Do we, as women, hear what we say to ourselves? There's something about a photograph that freezes things and gives us time to really see something. Having the women write their words, gave them a voice of their own."

Instead of simply seeing the women in these portraits, the series allows viewers to learn what these women see in themselves. "The woman's photo and her words become one piece that stands on its own, with no editing and filtering," Bermon wrote. "The viewer, first attracted to the photo, is then further drawn in by the emotions revealed by the words."

Bermon said that many of the women she photographed told her the process was therapeutic. Talking about what we see in ourselves feels good, she said. "When I take photos of the women, I hope to capture them in a simple, straightforward way -- what I see. So it's almost objective," Bermon told HuffPost. "The photos are a jumping off point for them to write about what they are thinking, it's all about hearing from the women."

"The project has been a labor of love," Bermon said. "The best part is that the that other women get it and want to do something to open up the discussion about it."

"Her | Self" is currently on display at the dnj Gallery in Santa Monica, California until April 4.

Check out more of the images and transcripts from " Her | Self" below.

H/T Bitch Media