The philanthropist.
The exceptional artist and cultural ambassador LISA MARIE ASUBONTENG manages to photograph even the most difficult topics with a conciliatory view. Her documentary photos, just like her portraits or fashion images, are testimony of her affection for her fellow human beings, which can be seen and felt in every single photo.
LISA MARIE ASUBONTENG
Excerpts from the series THE HOLY WOMEN
The girls and women look fixedly into the camera, the youngest is just 13 years old. They have all survived rape. The photos are part of the series "The Holy Women" by Lisa Marie Asubonteng. In it, she portrays women in Ghana who have experienced sexualised violence.
Asubonteng herself is German-Ghanaian. Last year, she travelled to Ghana for her grandmother's funeral. There, she heard from the fate of one of her cousins. "As a teenager, she was taken in by an older, wealthy friend of the family. She helped with the housework and with the children. In return, he paid her school fees and later her tuition fees. And he raped her." Asubonteng's cousin became pregnant, whereupon the man threw her out of the house – for fear of losing his reputation and his family. The child is now three years old, the mother is a single parent and broke. Asubonteng learnt that many women who become pregnant after being raped are like her cousin.
Text excerpts taken from the article THEY ARE SURVIVOR in DER ZEIT about the photo project.