“Bullied to Beautiful”: New Non-Revenue Pictures Venture in Raglan – Raglan Chronicle

For the previous seven years, Raglan photographer Nami Hampe has captured greater than 1,000 ladies via her lens. With her new non-profit pictures undertaking “Bullied to Beautiful,” Nami is giving ladies who’ve skilled bullying an area to reclaim their narratives. Annika caught up with Nami forward of the photoshoot on 12 September to seek out out what impressed the undertaking, and the way the area people can become involved.

What is your new undertaking “Bullied to Beautiful” all about?

“Bullied to Beautiful” is a artistic pictures undertaking that includes ladies who have been, or nonetheless are, bullied due to their look, ethnicity, or behaviour. It’s about giving them an area to share their story and be photographed precisely as they’re, so each girl concerned feels empowered to embrace what makes her distinctive. I wish to elevate consciousness round bullying, each in actual life and on-line.

What impressed you to begin the undertaking?

Honestly? This concept didn’t come from me sitting down and strategizing it. It got here to me late one evening, in prayer. I join with God each night, and this undertaking simply arrived, I felt prefer it was handed to me relatively than constructed by me. It may sound a bit unusual and I really feel fairly weak to talk this out loud, however I’ve realized to not query these moments. So, I simply stated sure and let it unfold from there.

You’ve already spoken to 16 ladies. What have you ever realized from listening to their tales?

How a lot these ladies carry quietly. Every story is totally different, however there’s a typical thread: so a lot of them spent years pondering they have been the one ones who felt this fashion. Hearing them communicate it out loud, typically for the primary time, has been one of the humbling components of this complete course of. It had me in tears greater than as soon as…

Can you share one story that caught with you?

There’s no single story, as a result of all 16 have stayed with me in numerous methods. One girl was bullied within the navy for being a lady, for being fairly, for having a giant coronary heart that cherished everybody too brazenly. One girl has been referred to as a terrorist since she was seven years outdated, merely for being visibly Muslim. As a baby, she was informed she couldn’t be a princess in a face-painting sport as a result of she was brown. Another informed me her personal mom picked aside all the pieces about her: her pores and skin, her voice, her giggle, her hair, even her ft…

Every one in every of these ladies carried one thing heavy for years, typically a long time, and nonetheless confirmed as much as share it with me. I don’t take that frivolously.

What does “reclaiming your story” imply to you?

For so lengthy, the story a bully wrote about you is the one you carry; that you just’re an excessive amount of, not sufficient, by some means improper. Reclaiming it means deciding you’re the one who will get to inform it now.

That’s what I hope this undertaking offers these ladies: a second the place the story lastly strikes, from one thing they’ve been hiding, into one thing they’re proudly owning. That’s the place the therapeutic truly begins.

What can the ladies anticipate from the photoshoot on12 September?

The complete day is totally soul-led. I don’t have a inflexible plan; I’m trusting it to unfold naturally. We’ll be on the seaside in Raglan, and every girl will likely be photographed in her personal approach, in no matter she chooses to put on, whether or not that’s her favorite outfit or one thing culturally important to her.

How can locals become involved?

I’d love for anybody within the Raglan group who needs to assist the undertaking to achieve out. That may very well be a videographer eager to be a part of the day, an area florist wanting to supply flowers for the ladies, any native companies wanting to present these weak and courageous ladies a bit of reward or token, or somebody eager to carry down some snacks or refreshments for everybody. This undertaking is totally non-profit, however anybody eager to contribute in any approach is so welcome to.

What do you hope individuals in Raglan take away from the undertaking?

That bullying doesn’t all the time seem like what we anticipate, and it doesn’t cease at childhood. I hope individuals stroll away with extra compassion, and I hope the ladies themselves stroll away feeling like their story mattered to somebody.

I hope it reminds us all, to decide on our phrases with kindness. We by no means actually know what somebody may carry from one thing we are saying. Embracing variations begins in group. It’s about taking care of one another.