Shane and Maggie
Domestic violence is a largely invisible crime. We usually only hear it muffled through walls, and we usually only see it manifested in the faded yellow and purple bruises of a woman who “walked into a wall” or “fell down the stairs.” It is rarely limited to one event, and it rarely stops. My project, “Shane and Maggie,” seeks to take a deeper, unflinching look at domestic abuse as a process, as opposed to a single incident,...
more »Shane and Maggie
Domestic violence is a largely invisible crime. We usually only hear it muffled through walls, and we usually only see it manifested in the faded yellow and purple bruises of a woman who “walked into a wall” or “fell down the stairs.” It is rarely limited to one event, and it rarely stops. My project, “Shane and Maggie,” seeks to take a deeper, unflinching look at domestic abuse as a process, as opposed to a single incident, examining how a pattern of abuse develops and eventually crests, as well as its short- and long-term aftereffects on victims, their families, and their abusers.
We typically only see victims of abuse in the hours or days after having been abused. I have been able to spend time with Maggie and her children before, during, and after a domestic assault. Since the incident, Maggie has moved to Alaska to be with the father of her two children, a soldier in the army who is stationed in Anchorage. I recently spent my spring break in Alaska, documenting Maggie trying to put the pieces of her family and her life back together utilizing both still photographs and multimedia. I am also in the process of attempting to contact Shane and photograph and interview him in jail to gain his perspective, as well as interviewing Maggie's friends and family, whom Shane isolated her from during their relationship.
With the help of the help of the Luceo Student Grant, I will be able to travel back to Alaska again to continue to document Maggie’s road to recovery. I intend to eventually put together an educational program that domestic violence shelters can use to educate and raise funds for their organizations. I am currently working with My Sister’s Place, a battered women’s shelter in Athens, Ohio, and plan to expand the pilot program to other shelters around the country that have expressed interest. Funding from the this grant will enable me to move forward with the development and distribution of this program, as most shelters do not have the excess funding to pay for work like this, and I am committed to helping them achieve their means of educating and empowering women. I hope to have this goal completed by September 2014 and I intend to use this project as my final project for completion of my master’s thesis at Ohio University.
The biggest part of this photographic journey that has made the difference is Maggie. Her courage through this whole ordeal, especially considering her age, is extraordinary. She has asked me to move forward with this project and to tell her story, because she feels that the photographs could potentially help someone escape from the same type of situation she was in. "Women need to understand this can happen to them. I never thought it could happen to me, but it could," she told me. "Shane was like a fast car. When you're driving it, you think 'I might get pulled over and get a ticket.' You never think that you're going to crash."
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![Maggie sat on the bathroom floor and cried after arguing with Zane. The two had fought with some regularity over her relationship with Shane, and although he had said he forgave her, Zane often had a difficult time letting go of his resentment. ?I'm tired of apologizing,? Maggie said. ?[Zane] cheated on me, I left him. It was a mistake. But when does it get easier??](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000hM0ABUiyLps/t/150/I0000hM0ABUiyLps.jpg)
