Facing up to Rape in Conflict: Challenging Stigma through Photography

This article examines four case studies of how photographers have worked with survivors of rape as a weapon of war. The case studies are Armin Smailovic’s “Black Portraits in Bosnia,” Marcus Bleasdale’s “Rape: A Weapon of War in the DRC,” Jonathan Torgovnik’s “Intended Consequences in Rwanda,” and Blake Fitch’s “My Body is a War Zone in Colombia.” Each photographer has used a different aesthetic strategy in collaboration with the women, allowing them to present themselves to the camera, and thence to the viewer, in an act of resistance and recognition. These projects explore how the visual image can be used as a form of bearing witness, allowing the subjects to present their testimony to the world. The article will engage with the strategies of participatory photography that give the subject a voice in the image making as an active process of empowerment.