Violences Invisibles
Interview with Aline Bovard Rudaz by Tamara Ribeiro Ferrari on the occasion of the exhibition Prix Photoforum 2020 at Photoforum Pasquart, Switzerland.
Can you tell us briefly about the project currently on display at the Photoforum?
Violences Invisibles (Invisible Violence) is a project about sexual violence against women. I’d say that it is halfway between documentary and conceptual. Documentary, because it features portraits of women who experienced rape or sexual harassment, as well as pictures of objects that are linked with their testimonies. Conceptual, because blank pages are used to convey the lack of images of this kind of violence. These blanks are accompanied by texts describing non-existing images, also based on the testimonies. Ultimately, this project aims to shed light on the lack of representation of the systemic violence experienced by numerous women.
The basic premise of the project comes from a quote of the author, curator and theorist of photography Ariella Azoula: ‘The lack of visual imagery of violence against women has for years contributed to society’s ignorance — and even more so to the tolerance — of this kind of violence.’ Being a photographer in addition to being a woman, I feel that I need to address these topics in my work. That is my way to contribute to the building of a more egalitarian world.
What does it mean for you to exhibit this project? What would you like to convey to the audience?
The exhibition of one’s work is always an important achievement for an artist. But in this case, I think it is even more important for the women who made this project possible by sharing their stories. They have found the courage to do so, and exhibiting the project is like telling them that their testimonies are validated, that what they experienced is taken seriously and that they are trusted.
Furthermore, the exhibition of this project coveys a powerful message: violence against women exists everywhere, we all know at least one survivor, we must speak about it and we shall no longer hide it. Violences Invisibles aims to bring on discussions among the audience about violence against women. By looking at the project, I would like people to question themselves: have I ever been a victim of sexual abuse? Do I know someone who has? How many victims do I know? Have I aggressed, harassed someone? Do I know someone how has?
Your work addresses a very important issue, which is still often left unspoken, and of which we still have few visual and non-fictional representations. Why did you choose this particular topic, and how was the project developed?
During my photography studies, I researched the representation of gender-based violence in photography. I noticed that, throughout history, very few images picturing violence against women were made. Reading Ariella Azoulay’s essay on missing pictures, I understood that the depiction of violence is essential if we are to show that it exists.
Fortunately, the past five years have witnessed an increase in photographic creations showing this type of violence. The rise of feminist movements has obviously contributed to this shift. But as it remains a complicated topic to picture, the artists have to find strategies to represent violence, without showing it in a direct way. I wanted to try the exercise, and to help create new images of violence against women.
The women you portray entrusted you with their image and their story. How did you meet them, and built this trust?
In 2019, Amnesty International conducted a survey in Switzerland about sexual consent. It found that one out of five women in Switzerland has already experienced non-consensual sex, and more than one in ten has had the experience of having sex against her will. Finally, I was seeing statistics that concerned Switzerland, and not France or Canada, on which there is more data. Suddenly, the problem became more real, closer to me and my friends.
That’s how I decided to ask the women in my inner circle if these statistics concerned them. It was no big surprise to see that many of my friends experienced sexual violence, and I decided to dedicate a work to their stories. As we already knew each other, the trust was already there, but for many of them it was the first time they described their experience to me, in such details. So it was not an easy task, we took the time we needed, and we built the project slowly, all together.
You chose to display the unseen moments, and the ‘blanks’ are as central as the portraits and testimonies. Could you elaborate on these choices for the exhibition of your work?
The unseen moments are the most important. Photographers are usually not present on the ‘crime scene’ when this kind of violence happens. So, I asked myself how can we make images that we cannot take? How can we make this problem visible when we are not the first-hand witnesses? As sexual violence is mostly invisible to our society, I had to find a way to conceptualize the elusive.
While making the Violences Invisibles project, I was gathering more and more written testimonies of sexual violence, without knowing how to use them. Ariella Azoulay’s essays about missing pictures helped me to understand that I was precisely facing a case of non-existing images. She wrote: Sometimes, inventing or imagining the existence of photographs is a first step in making them exist. That was it: I had to create missing images based on the testimonies I gathered. I used the blanks as spaces were the audience can mentally recreate the image that is missing. At the same time, these blanks are here to make up for the lack of representation of the violence these women experienced, to prove that they existed.
Nowadays, everything is represented. It is important to name things, but it is also important to show them, to represent them. Failure to show images of violence against women is to some extent ignoring it, denying it.
I admire the way you chose to portray the young women, without victimising them but rather showing strong determined individuals!
Thank you! That is indeed what I tried to do. These women are not only victims, they are survivors. They are strong, and are not defined by the violence that has happened to them.
What are you currently working on? Can you tell us about your current or future projects?
I am currently working on two projects. The first, a direct result of Violences Invisibles, is a project of the group Basta, of which I am the photographer. Our group aims to visualize sexual violence committed by people in the medical field, through a website and an Instagram account (@basta.harcelement). The concept is similar to that of Violences Invisibles: we have portraits of women who testify, as well as a neutral description of the images that weren’t made of the experienced violence.
The second project is a collaboration with Anaïs Potenza, who is active in the cultural sector and is fatphobia activist. Our project aims to document the everyday life of a fat person in their intimacy and their relationship with the outside world, with all the injunctions and difficulties that this entails.
The exhibition Prix Photoforum 2021 is presented at Photoforum Pasquart, Switzerland, from 3 March to 4 April 2021.
