EIRENE is an international organisation which works nonviolently for peace. National and international peace workers and volunteers work together in joint programs. To encourage people to donate to one of their projects in El Alto, Bolivia, the German based organisation reached out to us in order to gain new visual material.
In the briefing, EIRENE stated that they are looking for photos that do not show the children or exploit their suffering. With the Bolivian photographer Wara Vargas from the Fairpicture network, we selected a visual creator who not only accepted this tricky challenge but also found creative and unique ways to meet this goal.
Client
EIRENE
Visual Creator
Wara Vargas
Theme
Prevention measures against sexualised violence
Locations
El Alto, Bolivia
Date
June 2023
Since 2008, EIRENE has been cooperating with various civil society organisations and churches in the megacity of El Alto. Their aim is to strengthen children (and their rights), promote prevention measures against sexualised violence, support women as peacemakers and increase citizen participation so that conflicts do not escalate into violence.
As the project is primarily concerned with people, especially children, who have suffered terrible experiences in their lives, their dignity and protection was one of the most important aspects during this assignment.
Wara created all of the visual material during the children’s sessions with their psychologists. She participated as a guest in their therapies and always reassured herself with the therapists how far she could go.
The photos taken during this assignment are an outstanding example of ethical and at the same time emotional storytelling. Without revealing the children's identities, Wara managed to tell their stories through creative and sometimes unusual perspectives. In addition, she chose a completely new approach: she printed out the children's photos and asked them to paint themselves, thus giving the visual material a very personal touch.
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