— Sabrina Godin

TW: Sexual Violence

“The most critical turning point in my life happened when my aunt's boyfriend raped me,” says Retta Timmons, recalling what her life was like after being sexually assaulted by her great-grandfather, uncle, and aunt’s boyfriend. “When you have been a victim of that trauma, we think that we are the only ones that it happened to, and that we cannot talk to anyone, but we know that's not the truth.”

Retta Timmons is one out of millions of sexual violence survivors who cope with their trauma every day. She must adapt her lifestyle to co-exist with her memories. In her late 20s, she used sex work to her reclaim her body and fulfill her sexual desires. Today, she teaches about how trauma attaches to people and uses her faith to inspire others to heal from their own experiences. Timmons continues to cope, but she constantly lives with her memories of sexual violence.

For people who experience sexual violence, the act inflicted reshapes their perceptions of everyday life, and extends long beyond the moment of assault. Survivors continue to live through flashbacks, they learn to reclaim their bodies, and individually process their experiences . Through a series of collaborative color portraits and black and white landscapes, “Individual Survival” represents how survivors navigate uncertain terrain in the aftermath of life-altering trauma.

Retta Timmons

Sexual trauma brings hurt, pain, emotional and spiritual unhealthiness, disappointment and sorrow. What was once pure has been defined and drawn into a dark place.

Every waking moment.causes displeasure and thoughts of death. However, there comes a time when God steps in and tells You He desires you to hurt no more. You take a step and surrender your heart back to Him.

Slowly but surely you walk into a place of divine healing and then forgiveness. The spirit of joy and love begin to rest upon you and before you know it, the purity and sincerity of your story is shared to begin the path of healing others.

One day you realize that the tragedy you once lived is now a place of beauty that is changing the lives of others. Rest assured that what you endured was not for you but the healing of nations.

Retta Timmons poses for a portrait in Washington, D.C. on November 6th, 2021.

Julia Cole

Those red flags he waved

Now my red badge of courage

Justice has been served

Tasha Wilson

I just got tired of him living rent free in my head. I thought about how I can move beyond this, how I can start living again, and how I can help other people. So, that was my ammunition to get my power back, to say I’m going to share my story as many ways as I possibly can, from any capacity to somebody else out. I want them to know they are not by themselves, not alone. It’s ultimately not their fault, and in time they will be able to enjoy life again as they know it prior to what happened. For me, it took 12 years of hiding that secret to finally say I’m tired of viewing myself as damaged goods and I know that it is part of my story but it does not define who I am.

Lia Mack

You own me,

Yet you never

Paid.

And now I need to forgive you?

That’s going to heal me?

You get to be free?

And Me?

Charmaine “Tigria” Carter

Black Family Lies: Breaking the Silence of Generational Abuse

This true story is about a dysfunctional black family living in the southern states of North America. This family keeps secrets about themselves and others. Unfortunately, Charmaine finds out these secrets a little too late to help herself. As a child she fell prey to the cycle of abuse that her family kept secret. She suffered sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. All these traumatic events resulted in low self-esteem that set her up to have bad relationships. Depression, suicidal thoughts, and drugs threaten to claim everything she has, including herself, as her inherited dysfunction eventually sends her to rock bottom. After reaching, rock bottom, Charmaine gets counseling, therapy and reestablishes her belief in a higher power. She creates a new, stronger version of herself dedicated to helping out others who have suffered childhood abuse. She creates a non-profit organization, radio talk show, local TV talk show and has written and published her auto biography called: Black Family Lies. Proving the point that it is possible to reclaim your life after a traumatic past.

Shanon Lee

Shannon Lee stands for a portrait in Jones Park in Alexandria, Virginia on November 28th, 2021.

To this day, people still think if you’re married, and your husband forces sex on you, it’s not rape.

Elisabeth Foster

I see my life in flashes of color

this part of my life,

that I am choosing to share with you, is red

red is the color of love, passion, deep emotion; it is also the color of blood, scars, and pain

I hope that you feel with me

in a way that is suited to your needs and experiences

and I hope that you can heal

in the way that I still am

you may see things you don’t want to see, and feel things you don’t want to feel

but this needs to be seen, and it needs to be felt

I hope that you can understand what I have been through is not unique but it is important and real

know that in seeing this

you are connecting with those around you, with me and with yourself

know that in feeling this

you are not alone.