I've been miserable about blogging, but it has been a good year. Excluding my "Survivor Stories" portraits, these are my favorite photos from 2011. To see them larger, visit my web site.
Monday, January 02, 2012
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sunset in the Missouri River Valley
I love the Wabash Nature Trail. You get to start in the Missouri River Valley and follow it as it winds into the Loess Hills. It's so beautiful out there and when you're in the valley you can see the vast expanse of the sky. It was an unusually pleasant and beautiful day when Chris, Brooke and I went there to shoot engagement portraits. I had a lot of fun and we made some beautiful pictures.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Survivor Stories
Victoria Lopez - revolutionary and rape survivor
These days I’m living my own little American dream -- no home, no school, no job. I’m traveling. I’ve been partaking in a lot of protests, like Occupy Wall street. Revolution is happening everywhere, and it’s really changing my look on life. I’m very happy and I love everyone around me.
The incident happened at the very very first of July. Today it will be three months. That day was such a crazy day. There was a friend, a guy I thought was a friend, and he was just kind of like, “Hey do you want to hang out?” It had been a while that we’d had a chance to talk. I thought we could catch up.
We drove out, and we were talking and listening to music. We ended up in a cornfield. I used to carry a knife with me everywhere I went, and I was showing him it, just joking. I said, if you try and do anything, I’m going to put up a fight. And then he took it. He took the knife, and that’s when that all went down.
The first thing I did was call the Nebraska Family Help Line. I called them and was like, I need to go to a doctor, but I don’t want the police involved, and I’m afraid of this kid.
I ended up going to the hospital. The nurses were excellent. They were so nice. The officers were very helpful, but it was almost like they had to pressure me into telling because I didn’t want the police to know. And I did not want my parents to know.
When my mom came to the emergency room, it was exactly the way I pictured it. She wasn’t mad that it happened, she wasn’t afraid for me, she wasn’t comforting, she was just mad at me. She said, “I told you, what did I tell you?”
They ended up having to separate her from me. She ended up leaving the ER, she didn’t even stay there with me. Which was a little sad. I love my mom, but she’s established how much of a relationship she wants with me. I’m homeless.
I’m thankful we’re not going to have to do a trial. The last I heard, he has changed his plea back to guilty or no contest, something like that. I ended up getting a text (from the attacker that same day) and it was essentially “oh crap, I hurt you.” So he knows what he’s done. I’m sure that that’s going to follow him for the rest of his life.
He hurt me. It is probably among the top three worst things, that could ever have happened to me. I thought about ending it, but you can either let it bring you down or you can be really pumped about the positives in your life.
That helped, just trying to stay positive, optimistic and always, always, always thinking this isn’t an opportunity for me to go down or feel sorry for myself. I’m all about forgiveness and I’m all about peace and love.
There’s so much love and I hope every victim understands that. There is too much genuine love and genuine compassion and genuine concern between human beings for them to let one incident dictate their future or lack there of. This is not an opportunity to go down, never has been.
I’m just really happy to be alive and I hope that someday every victim gets to a place where they’re just like every thing’s going to be Ok. Cause it is.
To see the other Survivor Stories click here
To ask questions or become a part of this project, please don't hesitate to contact me at teresa.c.prince@gmail.com
The incident happened at the very very first of July. Today it will be three months. That day was such a crazy day. There was a friend, a guy I thought was a friend, and he was just kind of like, “Hey do you want to hang out?” It had been a while that we’d had a chance to talk. I thought we could catch up.
We drove out, and we were talking and listening to music. We ended up in a cornfield. I used to carry a knife with me everywhere I went, and I was showing him it, just joking. I said, if you try and do anything, I’m going to put up a fight. And then he took it. He took the knife, and that’s when that all went down.
The first thing I did was call the Nebraska Family Help Line. I called them and was like, I need to go to a doctor, but I don’t want the police involved, and I’m afraid of this kid.
I ended up going to the hospital. The nurses were excellent. They were so nice. The officers were very helpful, but it was almost like they had to pressure me into telling because I didn’t want the police to know. And I did not want my parents to know.
When my mom came to the emergency room, it was exactly the way I pictured it. She wasn’t mad that it happened, she wasn’t afraid for me, she wasn’t comforting, she was just mad at me. She said, “I told you, what did I tell you?”
They ended up having to separate her from me. She ended up leaving the ER, she didn’t even stay there with me. Which was a little sad. I love my mom, but she’s established how much of a relationship she wants with me. I’m homeless.
I’m thankful we’re not going to have to do a trial. The last I heard, he has changed his plea back to guilty or no contest, something like that. I ended up getting a text (from the attacker that same day) and it was essentially “oh crap, I hurt you.” So he knows what he’s done. I’m sure that that’s going to follow him for the rest of his life.
He hurt me. It is probably among the top three worst things, that could ever have happened to me. I thought about ending it, but you can either let it bring you down or you can be really pumped about the positives in your life.
That helped, just trying to stay positive, optimistic and always, always, always thinking this isn’t an opportunity for me to go down or feel sorry for myself. I’m all about forgiveness and I’m all about peace and love.
There’s so much love and I hope every victim understands that. There is too much genuine love and genuine compassion and genuine concern between human beings for them to let one incident dictate their future or lack there of. This is not an opportunity to go down, never has been.
I’m just really happy to be alive and I hope that someday every victim gets to a place where they’re just like every thing’s going to be Ok. Cause it is.
To see the other Survivor Stories click here
To ask questions or become a part of this project, please don't hesitate to contact me at teresa.c.prince@gmail.com
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Slutwalk Omaha
I participated in a great event this Sunday called Slutwalk. It's a march to end victim blaming in cases of sexual assault and rape. The name is controversial and needs some explanation. I created a video to do that. I also recorded a video of the speech I gave after the march. I'm proud of both. I'm also going to post a bunch of links for anyone interested in the subject. I wish I had some photos to show, but I was really busy that day. Thank you for taking the time to look through any of these links. 1 in 3 women in the United States will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. This has been a largely quiet and misunderstood epidemic, but that ends now. Help shatter the silence and stop the violence!
My video about the history and objective of Slutwalk Omaha
My speech about ending victim blaming
Facebook page where you can join the cause
Omaha World-Herald article on our march
WOWT piece on the march
KVNO piece on the march
Hilarious and accurate rape analogy
Site of the original slutwalk
My video about the history and objective of Slutwalk Omaha
My speech about ending victim blaming
Facebook page where you can join the cause
Omaha World-Herald article on our march
WOWT piece on the march
KVNO piece on the march
Hilarious and accurate rape analogy
Site of the original slutwalk
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Road Trip!
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Busy Summer
I'm back in school. For some reason, I thought that taking 11 credit hours in 10 weeks, while working part-time, would be a good way to spend my summer. It's been intense. Here are a few photos taken when I wasn't studying. I'll try and get back to posting somewhat regularly.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Survivor Stories
I’m currently working on two long-term projects: a continuation of the “Survivor Stories” piece I did in college and returning to college to become a radiology technician. Both will take a lot of time, so I’m trying to be patient and enjoy the journey.
“Survivor Stories” was a video I made for the Daily Nebraska. I wove interviews with six survivors of sexual assault into a single story about assault and its aftermath. I’m now working on a collection of portraits and interviews that I hope will become a book someday. That day probably won’t be for a long time. I’m doing this project because sexual assault is a silent crime. Most victims experience terrible shame and loneliness. It’s very difficult to admit this happened, even to your closest friends and family. This project will show how it’s possible to survive and move past this trauma. It should offer and hope and understanding to victims of sexual assault and the loved ones who support them. Sexual assault is a terrible crime that affects everyone in society. We need to confront it and that starts by shattering the silence.
If you have any questions about this project or would like to participate in it, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My email is teresa.c.prince@gmail.com Below is my first interview for the project. Renee was in the original “Survivor Stories” video. She’s a brave woman who survived a brutal rape by a person she trusted. Her story is graphic, violent and important.
“Survivor Stories” was a video I made for the Daily Nebraska. I wove interviews with six survivors of sexual assault into a single story about assault and its aftermath. I’m now working on a collection of portraits and interviews that I hope will become a book someday. That day probably won’t be for a long time. I’m doing this project because sexual assault is a silent crime. Most victims experience terrible shame and loneliness. It’s very difficult to admit this happened, even to your closest friends and family. This project will show how it’s possible to survive and move past this trauma. It should offer and hope and understanding to victims of sexual assault and the loved ones who support them. Sexual assault is a terrible crime that affects everyone in society. We need to confront it and that starts by shattering the silence.
If you have any questions about this project or would like to participate in it, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My email is teresa.c.prince@gmail.com Below is my first interview for the project. Renee was in the original “Survivor Stories” video. She’s a brave woman who survived a brutal rape by a person she trusted. Her story is graphic, violent and important.
Renee Boyeett - macrame artist and rape survivor
I was 18, and he was my best friend. I had known him since sixth grade, and when I moved away right after my freshman year, he was the only person that wrote to me. I would receive a letter every week. Then we moved back, and I trusted him. So I never saw this coming, and I was a virgin at the time, so I really was very naive about it all.
He had asked me to come over to his house, because he knew I was going to school for art. And he asked if I could come in and critique some of the work he had done. And I’d gone over and hung out all the time down in his bedroom in the basement , so -- no biggie. I go to into his room, and he closes the door.
Next thing I know, I’m pinned down on the bed, and he’s groping me, and I’m freaking out and screaming. And he kept saying, “You want this, you want this, I’ll be gentle I promise.” I left with bruises from chafing, from his hands holding both my wrists down. And I bled for three days, cause he had torn my hymen, and he had also raped me from the behind.
And I didn’t understand what had happened. I didn’t tell anyone, and I was in a complete panic for weeks. I got tested for STDs every week, got a pregnancy test every week for almost six months, cause I was just that freaked out. And no one could touch me. I wouldn’t let anyone touch me for almost a year.
Six years after it happened, I went to “Take Back the Night” (an event that supports survivors of sexual violence) and I decided -- you know what? I’m going to face this. I’m having panic attacks regularly, I still do. I have nightmares; I have flashbacks, but now I’m facing them and seeing them for what they are, instead of the shame.
It took me going to a mental hospital twice for suicide attempts to face that I’m not a victim. I had to change my way of thinking; I’m a survivor. I am a rape survivor. I’m not a victim anymore. I’ve done artwork, and it’s been very cathartic. And a lot of people don’t like the artwork cause it’s offensive, but the act itself was offensive. And so I speak loudly about it. I see no shame in what happened; he should be ashamed, because he showed that he’s not human.
One thing that’s helped me with mentoring is I found out that I actually saved a girl. She was thirteen-years-old and considering suicide. She’s part of the online support group that I help in. She was considering killing herself because her brother, just two years older, had raped her over and over and over again. And when she saw some of my artwork and read some of the things that I had written, she realized that it’s not her fault.
She told her mother; she told her father. They didn’t believe her. And so she got a little camera with night vision; she put it in her room, and it recorded her brother raping her, violently, while her parents were asleep down the hall. And she was put into a mental hospital for three weeks; her brother was arrested. He’s in prison right now. She said that I saved her life, because she faced what happened to her. She had someone listening who wasn’t judging her.
When someone tells you this happened to them, believe them because you could save a life.
He had asked me to come over to his house, because he knew I was going to school for art. And he asked if I could come in and critique some of the work he had done. And I’d gone over and hung out all the time down in his bedroom in the basement , so -- no biggie. I go to into his room, and he closes the door.
Next thing I know, I’m pinned down on the bed, and he’s groping me, and I’m freaking out and screaming. And he kept saying, “You want this, you want this, I’ll be gentle I promise.” I left with bruises from chafing, from his hands holding both my wrists down. And I bled for three days, cause he had torn my hymen, and he had also raped me from the behind.
And I didn’t understand what had happened. I didn’t tell anyone, and I was in a complete panic for weeks. I got tested for STDs every week, got a pregnancy test every week for almost six months, cause I was just that freaked out. And no one could touch me. I wouldn’t let anyone touch me for almost a year.
Six years after it happened, I went to “Take Back the Night” (an event that supports survivors of sexual violence) and I decided -- you know what? I’m going to face this. I’m having panic attacks regularly, I still do. I have nightmares; I have flashbacks, but now I’m facing them and seeing them for what they are, instead of the shame.
It took me going to a mental hospital twice for suicide attempts to face that I’m not a victim. I had to change my way of thinking; I’m a survivor. I am a rape survivor. I’m not a victim anymore. I’ve done artwork, and it’s been very cathartic. And a lot of people don’t like the artwork cause it’s offensive, but the act itself was offensive. And so I speak loudly about it. I see no shame in what happened; he should be ashamed, because he showed that he’s not human.
One thing that’s helped me with mentoring is I found out that I actually saved a girl. She was thirteen-years-old and considering suicide. She’s part of the online support group that I help in. She was considering killing herself because her brother, just two years older, had raped her over and over and over again. And when she saw some of my artwork and read some of the things that I had written, she realized that it’s not her fault.
She told her mother; she told her father. They didn’t believe her. And so she got a little camera with night vision; she put it in her room, and it recorded her brother raping her, violently, while her parents were asleep down the hall. And she was put into a mental hospital for three weeks; her brother was arrested. He’s in prison right now. She said that I saved her life, because she faced what happened to her. She had someone listening who wasn’t judging her.
When someone tells you this happened to them, believe them because you could save a life.
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