THE POWER IN YOU

This project was created by Luiza Tojer, 37 years old, now living in São Paulo, Brazil.

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I am a photographer who lived in New York City for the past 5 and a half years.

 

This project was created in order to show what the perspective women who suffers gender violence have on a society that silences and lacks true and human look towards us.

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While developing this project, I realized I could teach the world and people surrounding me a better way to behave in an environment where gender violence is so common, and yet so silenced.

 

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Besides me, I invited 4 women who now reside in New York City, and for some time in their lives went through one or more types of gender violence to share a little bit of their experiences and what paths they followed.

Accompanied by a photo shoot.

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As a photographer, I know how photography can change people's point of view, offering new perspectives to see and be seen. 

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I chose photography as a way to express both to them and to all women who suffer from gender violence that we are very strong and can to survive these violence and still continue to live, make our dreams come true and move on. Photography allowed me to portray the power and beauty within these women.

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Showing women who have been or are going through any type of violence that YES we are able to overcome and YES we can give a chance and as many chances as necessary for ourselves and that we deserve a quality and respectful life.

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But above all, we must not remain silent or accept any kind of violence against us has the capacity to destroy us, instead we should only allow it to make us stronger.

WE ARE NOT GUILTY!

We are not "poor victims" but EXTREMELY STRONG WOMEN.

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The project was 100% remotely conducted. 

To better understand, learn and be able to tell the story of these women, we recorded conversational interviews between myself and them. The photos were taken through FaceTime. This happened for two reasons: I had just returned to Brazil and we are in the middle of a pandemic. The project was developed between June and November 2020, COVID-19 had already impacted the whole world and we were following social distancing.

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With that in mind, the interviews and photoshoots happened within the comfort of our homes while strongly communicating each women's strength accurately. Nicole Batista was the responsible for my photoshoot. 

 

To me:

"Love has the ability to

change the world."