Our response to the negative and hateful comments towards Maggie and the photographer, Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, in the project “Photographer as Witness: A Portrait of Domestic Violence”

Domestic Violence is not something that we as a society are unaware of; on the contrary, we are seeing more and more media images about women being abused, from video games where you have to rape and murder women to win, to t-shirts with tag lines that say “STAY CALM BEAT HER.” This article depicts a women’s life and the violence she and her small children endure as seen through the eyes of a photographer.

It is disturbing to read the negative comments that are hurled at this women and the photographer for not doing something about the violence that is perpetrated in the photos by a man who claims “to have turned a new leaf.” Why is it that even though it is clearly stated that the women would have faced even more horrendous violence had the photographer not of been present, society judges the women? Why is it that women are questioned for staying in violent relationships due to fear, and no one asks why this can happen? We say it is society’s responsibility to learn about domestic violence and it is the state’s responsibility to keep women safe. Time to look at the big picture.