Another Me

It's been tricky getting back on the blogging bandwagon after a week off, but I've been eager to share the "Another Me" project. I was first introduced to this project when conducting undergraduate research on human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Southeast Asia. After an interview with ECPAT International, I was handed a publication by the Another Me project featuring the work of documentary photographer Achinto Bhadra.

A collaboration between the Lausanne-based Terre des Hommes and Indian NGO Sanlaap, Achinto's striking portraits were of women and girls who have seen some of the darkest corners of our humanity. The part-photography/part-counseling sessions were to support these girls in "transforming their pain into power".

"Through the months of the project, the girls and women were guided by the counselor and the photographer to seek an expression of themselves... something, anything, they wanted to be... What originated as a simple photography project had become a healing experience." 

I personally love that the props and make-up used to protect the identities of his subjects further enhanced the portrayal of each girl's resiliency of spirit...

(clockwise from upper left - A Budding Branch; Durga the Powerful; A Sheltering Tree and; The Parrot)