An Accidental Witness: A Photographer Captures Domestic Violence on Film

Domestic violence affects 1 in 4 women in the United States, or about 3 to 4 million women each year. Battery by an intimate partner is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in this country. Over one-third of female homicide victims are killed by a domestic partner or former domestic partner. Not surprisingly, about 50 percent of these women are murdered with a gun.

Shane and Maggie began dating in the summer of 2012
(Credit: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz / Time.com)

In November 2012, photographer and Master’s candidate Sara Naomi Lewkowicz became an accidental witness to the reality of domestic violence when she embarked upon a project involving two young Ohioans, Maggie and Shane. Shane, 31, was a recovering addict who had spent most of his life in prison. Maggie, 19, was raising two young children alone while her estranged husband was deployed in Afghanistan.

Shane and Maggie argued frequently about the amount of attention she devoted to her kids.
(Credit: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz / Time.com)

The two began dating about a month before Sara met them at a local fair, where she was shooting her first assignment for a photography class. Soon, the young photographer was documenting their life together on a daily basis: her goal — “to create a portrait of the catch-22 of being a released ex-convict: Even though they are physically free, the metaphorical prison of stigma doesn’t allow them to truly escape.”

Credit: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz/Time.com

But the narrative of the photo series changed abruptly one night after Maggie and Shane returned home after an evening at a local bar. A heated argument — fueled by alcohol and jealousy — erupted into an episode of domestic violence, which Lewkowicz caught on film. The police were called; Shane was arrested, and Maggie eventually filed a statement with the police. The photographer documented the process — and Maggie’s physical and emotional recovery — for months following the attack. Her powerful work won the 2013 Ville de Perpignan Rémi Ochlik Award on June 25, 2103.

Maggie, shown here with daughter Memphis in March 2013
(Credit: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz/ Time.com)

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and raising awareness about the scope of the issue and its far-reaching impact has become a goal for Lewkowicz since she witnessed Maggie’s attack in 2012. She has joined forces with photographer Donna Ferrato, whose work with abused women spans over 30 years, and continued to follow Maggie as she struggled to put the pieces of her life together again. In March, 2013, she visited her again at her new home in Anchorage, Alaska where she is living with her husband, Zane.

Of her time with Shane, Maggie says, “Women need to understand this can happen to them. I never thought it could happen to me, but it could. 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.”

If you know someone who is a victim of domestic violence, don’t stand idly by. Visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline  to get some practical advice about what you can do to help.