Photographer Donna Ferrato shares the story of her creative relationship with Sweden couple Elisabeth and Bengt, her unexpected documentation of domestic violence through her coverage of their toxic marriage, and how her photos catapulted her life and this issue to the forefront of media.
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A Portrait of Domestic Violence | Behind The Photo | 100 Photos | TIME
Comments
25 responses to “A Portrait of Domestic Violence | 100 Photos | TIME”
I don't feel sorry for women who allow their children to be victims to decisions that they've made.
Obviously this was awful.
However the worst part is that this woman allowed other women to get beat the sh*t out of without doing much else than taking a photo of them being beat. Disgusting.
Took a man one time to hit me after I stabbed him he never put his hands on me again
I am so happy that Elisabeth survived and I hope that Bengt was punished for what he did.
I had a man lift his hand to slap me. I told him go ahead sucker. i know where you sleep and I promise you will be sorry
My ex boyfriend and I ended our relationship back in February 2006 and I still don’t know how to cope with the emotional and mental trauma from the abuse I endured over that 2 year relationship. He caused me a lot of damage and I’ll never be the same again. I didn’t deserve any of it. I struggle to wrap my head around the mindset of a person that thinks it’s ok to just abuse people like that.
Was anyone else broken in half when she said her small child called 911 and told the dispatcher that his Dad was beating the s%€# out of his Mother? What on earth had that child seen that he knows what’s going on AND uses expletives freely toward strangers.
Going on that AND the photo of him on the bed with naked people everywhere can we agree that child has witnessed things no child should ever see?
My best friend from 2011-2017 was my biggest abuser. The first time she put her hands on me was when I was 13. I was in complete denial because she told me I would be nothing without her. She told me she did it because she cared. Final time was when I was 17 when she slapped me in front of everyone. And they still took her side. I’m a survivor.
Работать в такой издании как TIME просто мечта! Молодцы ребята !
I dont know how I got to this video, but I'm glad I watched it.
I saw this video last year when I watched the "American Swing" documentary and learned about Elisabeth and Bengt by association, and I was reminded to come back when someone put an original Plato's Retreat shirt up for sale recently.
I did some more digging and found some info I hadn't known before- that their eldest daughter was also abused by Bengt and ended up addicted to drugs and alcohol, dying of an overdose.
Elisabeth and Bengt was also arrested in 1983 with another couple they were friends with after authorities did a six-month drug sting and discovered they bought cocaine from them with code words and conspired to sell with them. They went to trial 2 years later in the midst of a very bitter divorce case- Elisabeth took the two older sons at the time and Bengt the youngest- but I couldn't find what the conviction was for either party in the end.
It would have made more sense to not tell us what happened to him, because no one cares.
Wow. Powerful. We are survivors. ❤️
Okay Mick Jagger why don't you do some dance moves.
Im sorry I just don't think I could sit by and watch another person be beaten and not do a thing about it except take pictures. Seems like that's part of the culture now, but I still see people as human beings.
I am a domestic abuse survivor. Thank you for sharing this.
I was out with a few people who were my friend's friends… I was quite friendly back then, so I cracked a joke and smacked lightly on the head of one of my friend's friend… He suddenly got furious and slapped me… I was dumbfounded and slapped him back..
What on the earth made them to put that kid in a room full of naked people?!!
Photographer should have made copies and taken pics to police
Thanks Donna. I was a child witness, not a direct victim. It was all so silent for so long, like it never happened.
The story should be about child abuse. Really have to question the morality of this photographer.
DOMESTIC ABUSE SURVIVOR. There's no amount of photos that can explain what it's like to exist this way. Prayers for all still suffering. Living on a riverbank is a better existence. GET OUT AND NEVER LOOK BACK.
Dislikes are from all the abusive men
I'm glad that woman is in a better place and has left her abuser! I hope her son is doing well today as well, he was exposed to things he shouldn't have been. When the were talking about how in the 80's the cops didn't care about them doing coke, all I could think about is how that was the time america was having the "war on drugs" during reagans presidency but everyone knows it was just aimed at blacks, this really puts things in perspective.
I still remember the woman at 9:42, Hedda Nussbaum. She was beaten so often that her nose was basically crushed. And her heartbreaking story of abuse and the beating death of Lisa, the child she and her partner “cared” for was BIG news when it happened. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedda_Nussbaum