Anthrow Circus

Photography as a Medium for Showing Trauma’s Complexity

STORY BY JOANNA MARSH

Lori Pasareno’s “Unbreakable,” a portraiture series consisting of 40 photographs taken over three years, seeks to address the tension between the residual pain of a traumatic experience and the ongoing process of healing and restoration.

“I am curious about the human spirit and its capacity to bleed and break, and then rise and push past the unspeakable to reach for hope and healing,” says the Canadian fine arts photographer’s artist statement.”

A Widow and a Child: Sexual Violence Is Not About Sex

A BOOK EXCERPT BY SARAH DAWN PETRIN

An excerpt from “Me Too: A Global Crisis,” chapter 6 of Sarah Dawn Petrin’s book BRING RAIN: Helping Humanity in Crisis

As an international relief worker whose career spans 20 years and 20 countries, I’ve worked to address many problems caused by war, disaster, and disease. But the one that has confounded me the most is sexual violence, which affects one in three women globally.
In order to end the cycle of violence against women, it’s important to understand why sexual violence is taking place.

Trauma-Informed Art-Making: An Interview

ARTICLE BY HEATHER M. SURLS
PHOTOS BY SARAH RACINE

Over the last decade Sarah Racine has worked internationally as a trauma-informed art-maker, helping a spectrum of individuals—from victims of human trafficking to refugees—find healing from trauma, abuse, and war. Though Racine calls Lancaster, Pennsylvania, “home” in the U.S., she recently relocated to Amman, Jordan, to study Arabic and explore options for working long-term in the region. Racine sat with Anthrow Circus’s Jordan correspondent, Heather Surls, to talk about her profession and how the arts can bring healing and hope to adults and children affected by trauma.