Holy LaDonna, Paint on Board, 2019 © Donna Ferrato
25th November is the international day for the elimination of violence against women and the start of 16 days of activism. Each day, we’ll be featuring the work of women photographers who are highlighting violence against women in its many different forms.
Day 1: Donna Ferrato
Donna Ferrato is an American photojournalist renowned for her work on domestic violence. Often following the stories of women who have come to trust in her, she pictures their defiance and perseverance in the face of challenging domestic life.
By using text, often handwritten on the print itself, Donna places the images in the context of the stories being told. They become diaristic, evidence, memories that cannot and should not be forgotten. These short documentary texts often provide the rest of the story, testimony to the women’s strength to rebuild their lives.
“Over the last 50 years, I’ve been driven to photograph the wisdom and courage of women: their mentality, their sexuality, their emotionality, their spirituality.”
More recently, to coincide with the Wade vs Roe decision in the Supreme Court, Donna built a wall of silence in New York as “activism about the criminalisation of survivors of gender-based violence” (see video below).
Margaret Atwood, Unique Collage, 2019 © Donna Ferrato
