photography by Anonymous
‘To me, when I look at the photograph now it looks like, I can see the hurt and pain through a picture, which I didn’t think other people could see when they look at me. But when you see a photo that is like that it’s like you’re trying to hide your face but in the same time, you can’t. Because no matter what you can always see it. I like to take photos with things that people will see that’s strange. There’s a bit of a story into it. You can see there’s something always missing in the photo but when I take photos, like how I feel inside. I got interested in photography when I photographed my five-year-old daughter. The first photo I like is of— is a photo of my daughter’s skipping rope. It looks like it’s wrapped around the couch, the back of the sofa. And what I like about it is I tried to capture– it’s like capturing a child playing but the child’s not there. It’s just the skipping rope that’s staring at you.’
– Anonymous, Australia 2015
“With the impact of my sons death, and after having the girls and then a still born, five days before its born, and the relationship I was in with my ex-partner was violent all the time. I was treated not like a person, to it me it was like an animal. I couldn’t handle it, being bashed all the time, getting cheated on by someone I loved so much. I just got tired of all that and I turned to drugs. Now as a person I know I can overcome what life throws at me. So the one thing missing in my life, is the two that I have lost. I have always explained to my daughter, that she has a brother and sister out there, but they are in heaven. She knows the meaning of, she knows the meaning of death. She knows you go and live with angels, but once in a blue moon she’ll ask me, where her brother is or why her sister isn’t here. My eldest, my first born was a boy, my son. He was murdered at 8 months old by my ex partner. One day I woke up to him crying, and he was just unsettled, so my ex-partner asked me, to put him (my son) to sleep. So I though yeah…. I was really tired. And then I woke up, not even two minutes later, and I see him standing there kneeling on the ground, it was like he was shaking a teddy bear. But it was my son he was shaking. And I think of the fright, and how scared I was. I couldn’t do nothing but scream frozen. It was like someone had stabbed me in the back. Couldn’t even move. With the impact of my sons death and after having a still born baby five days before it was born and the relationship I was with my ex partner with its violence of its own. I was not treated like a person, to me, it was like an animal. And I couldn’t handle it. Getting bashed all the time and getting cheated on, when I love someone so much, I just go so tired of that, and I turned to drugs. Domestic violence was a big issue for me. I didn’t think it was a big problem. Till my daughter was two years old, and I was hit in the face in front of her and I dropped. For me, my breaking point was my two year old was protecting me from her dad. That’s where I knew, that if I didn’t stop this, with this relationship, she would think it was normal, and natural this is the way you should be treated. So that was the biggest impact in my life. Now as a person I think, I know I can overcome what life throws at me.”
– Anonymous, Australia 2015
She witnessed the murder of her eight-month-old son at the hands of her ex-partner. Following this, she self-medicated and experienced on going depression. She now has three children and is trying, with the help of her family, to rebuild her life.