Creative Voices

In fall 2010, I worked with a local women’s organization, Sol...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:40:45 -0500

In fall 2010, I worked with a local women’s organization, Sol Naciente, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is dedicated to empowering women who have suffered from various abuses - living in the streets, drug addictions and domestic violence. For three weeks, I taught a group of eight women photography, from the basic techniques to the way that it can express what words cannot. The workshop was used as a tool of empowerment for the women, teaching them how to express themselves as individuals and as members of a group, thus creating a space of support and trust. This is their story.

Creative Voices Exhibit Opens Tonight, April 26th at 6pm at the IMUG Starbucks!

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:10:24 -0400

Join us tonight at the IMUG Starbucks for the opening of the Creative Voices Exhibit! There will be free snacks and drinks beginning at 6pm so come hungry!

Diane is one of millions of women around the world who...

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:20:00 -0400

Diane is one of millions of women around the world who experience violence within their own home. It is a prevalent issue that has continued for centuries affecting every race, economic status and culture. After a traumatic experience with her second abusive husband, Diane finally sought the help she needed to escape and move on with her life. She went to Middle Way House, a shelter for women in Bloomington, Indiana, and has been there for two years. She is currently working at their food retail store and taking classes, such as photography, to learn new skills for when she leaves. This is her story.

More of Diane’s photos. She really explored outside her...

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:11:18 -0400

More of Diane’s photos. She really explored outside her bubble this time, finding a variety of subjects and stories to tell.

Diane’s second week with the camera as she steps outside...

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:23:08 -0400

Diane’s second week with the camera as she steps outside her life in Middle Way and further explores Bloomington. Notice her different angles, use of color and geometry, and variety of subjects and distances. She is really beginning to apply her knowledge of the class to her work.

These are some of the photos my student Diane took her first...

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:06:40 -0400

These are some of the photos my student Diane took her first time with the camera. She showed an interesting portrayal of the things and people who play important roles in her life - taking them from various angles and composition.

Never Too Late

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:40:00 -0400

When we first leave the nest and move out on our own we typically seek independence, self-sufficiency and a lifestyle that embodies our beliefs and ideologies. It’s the American Dream. For Diane Collins, it took her 48 years to begin establishing such liberty.

“I’ve taken care of husbands, children, everything – cats, dogs,” Diane said. “This is very new to me to be all-alone. I have no husband, no children, no dogs, no cats, no baseball, no gymnastics, so I like it.”

Her dreams of working in radio were squandered in 1997 when her husband began abusing her. He kept her locked up inside the house and prevented her from having friends, from having a life on her own. She could not show emotion without suffering the consequences. “I couldn’t laugh, couldn’t cry. I was like a zombie.”

Diane is one of millions of women around the world who experience violence within their own home. It is a prevalent issue that has continued for centuries affecting every race, economic status and culture. “I wonder if it will ever stop really,” Diane said. “Really. With men this way. Women have always been treated like this.”

Like others, the repression and abuse she lived under created a forced dependency on her husband, disabling her from doing anything alone. “Nothing’s been on track since,” she said. “I’ve had all these goals and he just knocks me down.”

Diane’s experience with violence only worsened as the years went on and she married for the second time. Like her first, her second husband abused her as well. She refers to the experience as being enticed to enter a world she never thought she would. She did drugs; she was arrested and she received felonies for disobeying the law. More than anything, though, Diane was continuously belittled and victimized by a man she says she still loves.

“It’s such a complex, intricate problem, because see I still miss my ex. It’s weird. My mom told me it’s Stockholm Syndrome where you bond with the abuser – traumatic bonding – and it’s left me baffled. You’re so good to someone and then for someone to be the complete opposite is what I cannot comprehend.”

Despite her love for her ex husband, Diane decided it was time for the violence to stop. After experiencing a traumatic situation one night in August 2009, she reached out to a social worker who directed her to a women’s shelter in Bloomington, Indiana: Middle Way House.

“An advocate from the county I was living in drove me down here because I wasn’t up to driving,” she said. “So she drove me down here. I didn’t know one person. I had looked up Middle Way in the middle of the night and I called. I looked it up in the phone book, in the yellow pages, and that’s where I found it, and thank god I did because I don’t know what I’d really be doing right now. I ask myself that from time to time. Would I still be sitting on a couch? Frozen all the time. I don’t know.”

A year and a half later, Diane is on her own for the first time in her life, living in an eclectically furnished apartment that was provided by Middle Way House. She works a steady job and actively participates in workshops the organization provides in order to teach the women basic skills that can help occupy their minds and raise their self-esteem. Diane has taken courses in canning, gardening, cooking, and is currently in a photography workshop led by Indiana University senior, Courtney Miller.

According to Diane, the workshops make her feel like she can do something. They take her mind off of the pain she experienced in the past and help her focus on the way she can move forward. “I can believe maybe I can do something right. That’s what it makes me feel.” The photography workshop, in particular, makes her feel sane and helps her mental and emotional state, she says. “It’s a positive thinking.”

From Diane’s perspective, the workshop not only taught her about basic techniques such as lighting and composition, which she enjoyed applying to the digital camera she rented for the course, but also taught her about her ability to show her reality and express herself creatively. When asked about her images, she replied, “I’d like for them to speak about real life, the hardships of people that get unnoticed. I think that is probably my main priority.”

After several months of the weekly course, Diane has gone from discussing her frustrations, fears and pain to discussing her hopes and dreams. Without inhibition, she speaks of all the things she wants to do with her life. “I want to go on. I need to heal. I need to focus on positive things in my life.”

Diane is currently working to receive financial support for independent housing through the Family Self-Sufficiency Section 8 Program and is working to improve her life. “I want a house to have friends and family visit,” she said. “Start living my life again.”

This is her goal. This is her next step in creating the lifestyle she wants, the one she always thought she would have. It took her 48 years to get to this point, but to her it is never too late.

Paper Crane Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana hosted a gallery...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:36:00 -0400

Paper Crane Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana hosted a gallery show this March for the photography project, Creative Voices, from the class I taught in Buenos Aires, Argentina this Fall. We had a great turn out!

Violence Against Women Doesn't Discriminate

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:10:42 -0400

Violence Against Women Doesn't Discriminate:

This is a thorough look at the prevalence of violence against women done by ICRW, the International Center for Research on Women. It explains how violence against women as an issue does not discriminate; it transcends cultural, economic and geographic boundaries, affecting millions of women around the world.

"Changing the world begins with the very personal process of changing yourself, the only place you..."

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:11:24 -0500

“Changing the world begins with the very personal process of changing yourself, the only place you can begin is where you are, and the only time you can begin is always now.”

- Gary Zukav

Happy International Women's Day!

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:29:16 -0500

Happy International Women's Day!

Promote Awareness for Violence Against Women

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 01:21:00 -0500

Please come support the millions of women around the world who suffer from domestic violence at my photography exhibit this Friday at Paper Crane Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana 8pm! All profits go to women’s shelter, Sol Naciente, in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

Photography Exhibit Opening this Friday, March 4th at 8pm!

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:23:50 -0500

Photography Exhibit Opening this Friday, March 4th at 8pm!

growth of violence against women in latin america

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:46:27 -0500

growth of violence against women in latin america

Food Works Market Grand Opening Feb. 9th 8-3

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:36:23 -0500

GRAND OPENING for Food Works - a local food market here in Bloomington, IN that is partnered with the women’s shelter, Middle Way House. It runs 8am-3pm and will have all of their culinary delights available for sampling, plus door prizes and a chance to win a power hedge trimmer! They are located at 318 S. Washington Street, in the historic coca-cola building. Come show your support!

Upcoming Exhibit

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:33:00 -0500

Paper Crane Gallery presents:

Creative Voices Photography Show by Courtney Michelle Miller

Reception: Friday, March 4^th, 8–10pm

Show Runs: Wednesday, March 2^nd through Sunday, March 13^th

Paper Crane Gallery is located at 401 W. 6th St. Suite J, Bloomington, IN 47404

(Entrance is located on the back of the building right off of the parking lot)

Gallery Hours: Wed-Friday 2pm-8pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm

Admission is free.

According to the World Health Organization, one in three women suffers from some form of abuse, thus making violence against women one of the most pervasive problems in the world. In an attempt to bring violence against women to an end, organizations across the globe are working to help victims and their families escape violent situations. One such organization is Sol Naciente in Buenos Aires, Argentina, founded in 1998 by Lidia Hernandez.

This past fall, Courtney Michelle Miller had the chance to teach a photography workshop at Sol Naciente. For three weeks, she worked with a group of eight women, all of whom were victims of some form of abuse, ranging from domestic violence to drug addictions. They discussed basic techniques, such as the use of light and composition, and how they are used effectively to tell stories and portray realities.

The workshop in photography was about more than teaching basic techniques. It was a way to connect the women to experiences that they shared but that were often difficult to verbalize. The workshop participants saw how photography constitutes an alternative language for conveying human emotions. By telling or sometimes showing personal memories out loud, the students learned how photography exceeds boundaries and brings people together. Thus, the workshop created a space of support and trust, empowering them as individuals and also as members of a group.

Courtney is working on using photography as an alternative language for conveying human emotions and overcoming cultural and demographic boundaries to create an international network of women. Through these photography workshops with female victims of domestic violence in various regions, she hopes to provide them the opportunity to think, speak and learn without inhibition or fear. She wants to show how the mastery of basic photographic skills can bolster self-esteem among women attempting to exit oppressive circumstances. She is doing this in order to help women better understand their similarities and the way in which they are empowered as individuals and as members of a group through small-group workshops in photography.

In hopes of creating an international discourse about empowerment via photography among women, Courtney created a blog: http://creativevoices.tumblr.com. Please come view her work and that of her students at this eye opening exhibit.

Additional images and interviews available with artist and/or gallery director upon request.

papercranegallery@gmail.com ▫ 401 W. 6th St. Suite J, Bloomington, IN ▫ www.papercranegallery.org

We're published!

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:39:51 -0500

We're published!:

I’ve created a book of photos which were taken by the women of Sol Naciente, my students, and myself, to show how they applied their basic understandings of photography.

WTIU covers the issue of domestic violence in the US,...

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:25:16 -0500

WTIU covers the issue of domestic violence in the US, specifically in Bloomington, IN.

In fall 2010, I worked with a local women’s organization,...

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:45:38 -0500

"Professor Michelle (me), I hope I have left in you what you have left in me, a great, beautiful..."

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:06:00 -0500

“Professor Michelle (me), I hope I have left in you what you have left in me, a great, beautiful affection.”

- Lorena, one of my students