Normally I try not do write-ups for this project, but if you know me personally, you know that I tend to bring personal stories to every work of art I do. And if you don’t know me personally.. here’s your first dose of it.
Yvonne, the woman in this photograph, is one of the most important people in my life and is a primary reason for why I created this project. I met her through a strange set of circumstances and coincidences, and when I was beginning to create my first project, 50 Extraordinary Women, she was one of the first people I added. I thought she was interesting - she had so many hobbies and just seemed like a genuinely good person. But I had no idea she carried such a past with her.
I spent five days with her in April to photograph her for 50 Extraordinary Women. The second night I was there, we were sitting on her couch and she told me her story. If you watched the video I posted the other day, you will recognize it.
When she was five, her step-father (who she refers to as her father, as he raised her and she had his last name) began molesting her every night. It continued for five years. When she was ten, it escalated to rape. She endured nine years of continuous abuse, and the rest of her teenage years were tumultuous because of the childhood she suffered. But with combination of her strength, her faith*, and her husband of 36 years, she was able to lead an incredible fulfilling life - raising four children, taking in others who needed a home, and being what I viewed her as in the very beginning: a genuinely good person.
At the end of her story, she then told me that a few years ago, shortly before her father’s death, she decided to forgive him. I couldn’t really wrap my head around that fact - I was almost frustrated with it. After I got home later that week, I had dinner with my sister and told her how I didn’t understand that Yvonne could just forgive the man who hurt her so often. My sister, in turn, asked, “How can you NOT understand it?” - because the forgiveness was not to heal her father, but to heal herself.
Everything just clicked for me at that moment, even more so than when Yvonne told me her story a few days prior. And now, after writing this, it’s clear to me that this project is for her. It is her incredible ability to heal that makes me want to help others who are struggling with ghosts from their past.
I hope if you are ever feeling lost, you remember Yvonne’s story and know that you can heal.
You will heal.
And you are never alone.
* Side note: I prefer to not bring religion/faith/spiritualism/etc into anything, but I mention her faith because I know it’s an important part of her. However, this is not a Christian project.. and it is not an Atheist project either. Hopefully I don’t offend anyone with this.. I just don’t want to be associated with anything.
