Rape survivor creates powerful photo series to break taboos
LONDON -- A rape survivor has created a powerful photo series telling the story of the emotional aftermath of sexual assault.
Photographer Elisa Iannacone created The Spiral of Containment: Rape's Aftermath in an effort to encourage people to talk openly about sexual violence and the psychological impact on survivors. Each image tells the unique story of the subject using visual props they've chosen to recreate the thoughts and feelings "left spiralling in the survivor's mind after the assault".
"The aim is to allow rape survivors to express themselves creatively and share their stories in an empowering way, as well as changing the discourse revolving around sexual violence," Iannacone told Mashable.
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The first image from the series depicts a scene inspired by Sleeping Beauty.
"I remember meeting this woman and discussing the assault, which had happened in her sleep. She described to me how -- in the original fairytale -- the prince sneaks in through a window and rapes the princess while she is sleeping," Iannacone continued.
"During our discussion, she mentioned how she had imagined herself as Sleeping Beauty so many times, locked up in that tower, and how she could have stayed in it forever," Iannacone said.
Iannacone's own experience of surviving sexual assault and the psychological impact of it inspired her to start the project.
"I was raped several years ago and felt like my life had completely lost its course," said Iannacone.
Iannacone tried different kinds of therapy including Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing and group therapy. But she says she found art therapy to be the most effective in allowing her to "take charge" of her life once more.
Years later she decided to use her background in cinematography and photography to create a project that aims to break the taboo around talking about sexual assault.
The use of art in helping rape survivors to heal and express the emotional impact of an assault has been effective for some survivors, and several artists have publicly documented the therapeutic affect of making art about their experiences of sexual assault.
Iannacone says she believes change is happening when it comes to discussion around sexual violence. She believes that opening up a discourse around the issue will help the healing process for survivors
She hopes to turn the images into an art installation featuring the 24 photographs which depict the unique experiences, thoughts and feelings of 24 rape survivors.
Each image in the installation will be accompanied by a title, a short description and a motion-responsive "soundscape", explained Iannacone. When the viewer approaches the image, they will hear a recording of the subject's voice, which then blends with the voices from the other images and fades into white noise. This gives the audience a chance to be active in the story, rather than passive, in addition to giving them a choice about how much of the story they hear, she said.
Iannacone is currently raising money for the art installation on Kickstarter.
If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.
Topics Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
