Featuring: The Lesbian Lives Project

Article
By Ollie Nicholas
14/03/19

Subtitle

Providing visibility to lesbian women and their discrimination

Contents

1. Elisabeth Real

2. The Lesbian Lives Project

3. 'When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead'

4. 'Who We Are'

5. Why Switzerland and South Africa?

6. Everyone has a voice

7. Striving for Equality

‘When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead’ by Elisabeth Real

Elisabeth Real is a Swiss freelance photographer based in Madagascar. In 2005, she graduated from the University of Art and Design, Zurich, with a diploma in photography. Since then Elisabeth has been working as a freelance photographer, dedicating her life towards photojournalism for nearly 14 years. Elisabeth has been working on The Lesbian Lives Project since 2012.

Subtitle

Providing visibility to lesbian women and their discrimination

Contents

1. Elisabeth Real

2. The Lesbian Lives Project

3. 'When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead'

4. 'Who We Are'

5. Why Switzerland and South Africa?

6. Everyone has a voice

7. Striving for Equality

Elisabeth Real is a Swiss freelance photographer based in Madagascar. In 2005, she graduated from the University of Art and Design, Zurich, with a diploma in photography. Since then Elisabeth has been working as a freelance photographer, dedicating her life towards photojournalism for nearly 14 years. Elisabeth has been working on The Lesbian Lives Project since 2012.
1. Elisabeth Real

"I’ve always had a strong sense of justice, of fairness, and I find that my personal projects always connect to it. I’m particularly interested in trauma—both in individuals and in groups—that stems from a political or legal injustice. But how do you make something as abstract as "trauma by injustice" visible? I choose to give those who’ve experienced trauma firsthand a voice and let them tell us how this injustice manifested in their own lives. It is my hope that by reading someone’s story and viewing their lives in photographs, it helps other humans to understand complex issues and connect to them on a personal level more easily.

From 2006 to 2012, I worked on ‘Army of One’, a longterm journalistic project about six American veterans who returned from the war in Iraq with PTSD. Through photographs and interviews, I investigated how the U.S. Army dealt with the onslaught of traumatised soldiers coming back from the Middle East and how the men and their families continued their lives after the war.

For The Lesbian Lives Project I currently photograph and interview lesbian women around the world. The ambition of this project is to make lesbians more visible and bring attention to their legal and social discrimination. In some countries, lesbians are prosecuted by the state and put in jail. In other countries, they enjoy some rights, yet they are far from equal to heterosexuals. In my experience, it has become apparent that this inequality, coupled with social stigma, makes lesbian women feel powerless and causes them a great deal of trauma. I strongly believe that in order to advance as a society—as a global community—we need full equality for all citizens as soon as possible."

'Who We Are' by Elisabeth Real

2. The Lesbian Lives Project

Elisabeth has been photographing and interviewing lesbian women for The Lesbian Lives Project for the past several years. Since the project started in 2012, the aim has been to create greater visibility for lesbians and draw attention to their legal and social discrimination. In some countries, lesbians are prosecuted by the state and imprisoned. Whilst in other countries, lesbians enjoy some rights, but are still far from achieving full equality compared with heterosexual men and women. Following six years of working on the Lesbian Lives Project, Elisabeth draws the conclusion that this inequality, coupled with social stigma, has lead to a sense of powerlessness among lesbians, which has contributed towards a great deal of trauma.

The Lesbian Lives Project is being published as a book series. The first two volumes, which were published in 2018, investigate the dangers, struggles and discrimination that lesbians face today in South Africa and Switzerland.

'Who We Are' by Elisabeth Real

‘When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead’ by Elisabeth Real

3. 'When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead'

Elisabeth first covered the experiences of lesbians in South Africa, as part of The Lesbian Lives Project. Black lesbians from South African townships are often raped and sometimes killed by men, to “teach them a lesson”, to turn them into “real”—meaning: heterosexual—women. These hate crimes, for various reasons, are rarely prosecuted, even though the country's constitution protects lesbians from discrimination and grants them full equality.

This book investigates the discrepancy between the progressive South African laws and the dismal situation on the ground, and provides insight into what it means to live as a black lesbian in Johannesburg today.

Whilst working on "When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead”—the volume about black lesbians in Johannesburg’s townships—Elisabeth hired a fixer for the very first time in her career. A fixer is someone who would aid Elisabeth in meeting South African people that she could speak to for the project. Elisabeth’s fixer was her good friend Manika, an activist who knows everyone in Johannesburg's lesbian scene. During her visit in March 2017—and the weeks that led up to it—Manika became Elisabeth’s associate, guide, interpreter, photo assistant and confidante. Manika was relentless in tracking down people to interview and without Manika, Elisabeth feels that she would have never finished this book and for that reason she holds Manika in a very high regard.

(Project duration: 2012-2017)

‘When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead’ by Elisabeth Real

‘When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead’ by Elisabeth Real

4. 'Who We Are.'

When it comes to gay rights, Switzerland is ranked 26th among 49 European countries, at the same level as Romania. Although lesbians are generally well accepted in Swiss society, they hardly enjoy the same rights as heterosexual men and women. For example, there are no laws providing marriage equality and there is no protection from hate speech directed at LGBTI people. ‘Who We Are’ delves into the stories of Swiss lesbians, with a particular focus on the stories of two mothers living with their daughter in Winterthur, a Catholic priest who blessed a lesbian couple in his church, and a woman who was attacked because she dates women.

Elisabeth first started working on the Swiss volume in the summer of 2015, with partners Sara and Carmen, and their daughter. During the last two years, Elisabeth has also recorded two other stories of lesbians in Switzerland. The first, follows Elisabeth and Marthi, a lesbian couple who were blessed by a Catholic priest in their local church. As a consequence, the priest was fired by his superior, bishop Vitus Huonder, which led to a huge disagreement in Switzerland. For this chapter, Elisabeth also interviewed the priest himself, Wendelin Bucheli, and asked him how the same-sex benediction ceremony came about. Elisabeth also shares the story of Selina, a lesbian who was attacked by her former girlfriend's father.

(Project duration: 2015-2018)

'Who We Are' by Elisabeth Real

'Who We Are' by Elisabeth Real

5. Why Switzerland and South Africa?

In the series, Elisabeth chose to cover two very contrasting countries because she wanted to investigate how various countries around the world and their constitutions treated lesbians. What rights do they have, and how do these rights correlate to their situation on the ground?

South Africa for example, was the first country worldwide to include an equality clause in its constitution. Lesbians are protected against discrimination, hate speech and harassment, and enjoy full marriage and reproduction rights equality with heterosexuals. However, the situation for poor black lesbians living in townships is dismal. They are generally not accepted by society and are even raped or killed in hate crimes. The South African police rarely investigates these crimes and the perpetrators often walk free. In "When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead,” Elisabeth wanted to show the discrepancy between one of the most progressive constitutions in the world and the reality that lesbian women are not safe, despite there being a legal framework which is designed to protect them.

As a Swiss photographer and author, Elisabeth also wanted to investigate lesbian lives in her own country. In Switzerland, the situation compared to South Africa is practically reversed. Lesbians are generally well accepted by Swiss society, however there’s no equality in the constitution. Lesbian couples living together in civil unions for example, have families together, yet the law still treats the biological mothers as “single.” Couples are also not allowed to adopt or use fertility clinics for sperm donations. There is no law against homophobic hate speech either.

The comparison that Elisabeth initiates in choosing to look at Switzerland alongside South Africa is important. Comparing two contrasting countries highlights the flaws that each possesses, allowing us to truly understand the breadth of trauma and injustice that is experienced by lesbians around the world. As the reader, we can begin to recognise the disparities that exist between our own experiences and the experiences of those that suffer injustice around the world. The need for a consistent global standard where all people can enjoy institutional and social equality is paramount. Because experiencing one of these freedoms without the other is insufficient.

‘When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead’ by Elisabeth Real

'Who We Are' by Elisabeth Real

6. Everyone has a voice

Elisabeth cherishes the bond that she has shared with all the women that she has spoken to during this project. This is clearly a project that will have a lasting impression on the photographer and this sentiment will surely be shared with all of the people that have been involved in The Lesbian Lives Project.

Elisabeth Real: ‘Every single woman I've met through my work on this series has deeply impressed me. It's not easy sitting down with a journalist and have her ask you very personal questions, and have your picture taken in your house or your surroundings. I realise with each and every sitting that it takes courage to stand in front of a lens and talk about your sexual orientation and its implications, and all these women are so brave, and inspire me to be braver as well, in turn, and to stand up for what I believe in.

If I had to pin it down to one person who's left her mark on me, I'd mention Nonhlanhla Matsoyane, a 19-year-old lesbian woman from Duduza township close to Johannesburg. She was raped by her uncle when she was 16, and became pregnant. By raping her, her uncle wanted to teach her how to be a “real”—meaning: a heterosexual—woman. She ran away from home and into the arms of a woman who gave her shelter and became her girlfriend, but was emotionally and physically abusive and scalded her with hot water. Since her son has been born, Nonhlanhla's uncle comes by every once in a while to play with him. These visits are hard for her to take and she feels both intense love and intense hate for her son. Nonhlanhla is not accepted by her family as a lesbian and was kicked out of her house shortly after our sitting.

I was extremely shocked to hear her story. I couldn't imagine anything worse than what she described, and yet she wasn't breaking apart, although she does cut herself sometimes when the pain is bad. But what overwhelmed me was the fact that she'd never before told anyone about her life: I was the first person she shared her story with. I felt so helpless during this interview: She cried, I cried, I didn't know what to say or what to do for her. I think of Nonhlanhla often and hope she's well, considering her circumstances’.

My projects have taught me that the simple act of asking someone questions about their life, and really listening to their answers, and have them show me around in their world and take pictures of them, is important, and rare. I have a deep desire to understand people, and I’ve found that just by expressing intense interest in their lives really makes them open up in surprising ways.

‘Everyone wants to be heard, and everyone has a voice, and a story to tell. I do too, and by choosing which stories I focus on, I am using my voice’.

‘When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead’ by Elisabeth Real

7. Striving for Equality

Throughout her work, trauma has been a constant theme for Elisabeth, working with various victims of trauma in the Lesbian Lives Project, as well as in previous projects such as ‘Army of One’. Whilst recognising the complexities with representing trauma, Elisabeth believes that the intimate moments that she has shared with trauma victims, has helped her develop an understanding of trauma by intuition rather than intellect.

Elisabeth believes that the combination of interviews with photographs helps to tell the stories of trauma victims in a powerful way. The use of photographs provides an extra impact as they can express a certain atmosphere, sadness or melancholy that words can’t. When you see pictures of a person recounting trauma, it really drives home the point to the reader that this person exists, that she is real, and that her story is not a work of fiction. Pictures root the trauma in reality, while also telling the same story on a different level.

By hearing real testimonies accompanied by photos of trauma victims, it allows us to circumvent any established historical narratives that may be in place, which are often subject to other influences. As Elisabeth mentions, in South Africa there is a legal framework that is designed to protect lesbians from discrimination. However, when we hear Nonhlanhla’s story, any illusion of equality for lesbians in South Africa is broken. These stories are distressing, however their impact is important. Personal narratives of trauma and injustice need to be told and need to be accepted, if we are ever to overcome social and institutional inequality. Elisabeth hasn’t quite decided where she’d like to go next, but we hope that she can continue to give a voice to those that are marginalised in the pursuit of a better, more equal world.

‘Who We Are’ by Elisabeth Real

‘It is my conviction that in order to advance as a global community, we must grant equal rights to all people as soon as possible. Until we arrive there, I want to investigate and document what discrimination and challenges lesbians face in their respective countries.’

- Elisabeth Real

  • Featuring: The Lesbian Lives Project

Bibliography

When You Come Back, I Might Be Dead. Black Lesbian Women in Johannesburg and the Promise Given by a Constitution by Elisabeth Real (Set to be published in September 2019)
Who We Are. Lesbian Women in Switzerland, Three Stories by Elisabeth Real
Elisabeth Real (http://www.elisabethreal.ch/)
The Lesbian Lives Project
The Lesbian Lives Project Store
Army of One by Elisabeth Real

Social

The Lesbian Lives Project Instagram (@lesbianlivesproject)
Lesbian Lives Project Facebook
Lesbian Lives Project Twitter (@lesbianlivespro)

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