Domestic Violence: A Photographer’s Narrative

Ifaka Jesse

The violence in Ifaka Jesse’s photographs is raw, dramatic, intense and expressive. They are a reflection of the societal rumbles that occupies the pages of newspapers, screens of televisions and social media walls.

He explores social commentaries by listening to social banters and maelstroms in his environment. Jesse, whose works are born out of his passion for the oppressed persons in the society, found out that the society has become comfortable with oppression and humiliation as domestic violence shows no sign of abating. “I once saw a young couple living as rivals under the same roof and nobody said anything,” he says.

In the photographs, we see a lot of actions- a hand holds a female victim by the mouth, two hands strangles a female victim by the neck, a foot stands on a female face, an all-men fighting scene and a man strangling another man. They look like they have been stripped out of a movie. If a spectator pays attention, he can begin to identify the repetition of a subject in the photographs. 

   

The series of photographs on Domestic Violence shows the depth of Jesse’s works. The stillness of the subjects gains life from the action that is embedded in the compositions- like the characters in a novel and the spectator becomes part of the composition by the fantasy of wanting to rescue the oppressed subject(s) as the expression of violence by his subject(s) attracts empathy.

Jesse’s photographs are a timely project. They come at a time when marriages are falling apart, friends losing trusts, and companies losing viable staffs as a result of domestic violence. We often hear news of husbands beating their wives, fathers raping their daughters, old men raping young girls and ladies, men taking advantage of other men and other forms of oppression. Physical, emotional, sexual and psychological violence have become the other of the day in every facet of the society.

The rapid increment of domestic violence is initiating diverse discussions and opinions around the globe. Edideon Jumbo, an entrepreneur from Kaduna, Nigeria said, “this domestic violence is fast becoming a menace especially in Nigeria, with women being victims in most of the cases. However, we must know that domestic violence is not just about physical violence but emotional and mental as well. I don’t support it in anyway; whatever it is, there are other ways to drive home your point without violence”.

“I think that the way that women are treated in Nigeria is not good. Nigerian men who mistreat their women should be stripped-down naked and their women given boxing gloves to beat the shit out of those men”, said Ruth Bircham, an American visual artist.

Like a disease that respects no one, domestic violence transcends gender or age. While women suffer the large part of domestic violence, men are also victimized by women. On May 9, 2017, a court case involving a 29 year old housewife, Onyinyechi Akunne who was jailed for seven years for stabbing and killing her husband was published in the Vanguard newspaper. This might explain why Jesse included male victims in his photographs but it is noteworthy that women are the primary victims of domestic violence.

While some communities declare it as an inhumane act, some communities embrace it as a sign of love and supremacy; this is one of the reasons many victims of domestic violence bear their pains in silence and finds it hard to report to appropriate authorities in their localities. They rather report to their heads of families or in-laws in lieu of reporting to the appropriate authorities. Domestic violence has varied perception in the society.  

Like Akintunde Akinleye, Jesse’s photographs are a reflection of social banters and communal events that provokes diverse responses. In late 2016, Akintunde Akinleye held an exhibition on the agony of the Delta people at the siphoning of crude oil in the state by powerful politicians who lurk in the shadows to perpetrate evil acts in the guise of unemployed youths. The exhibition was titled, “Delta Bush Refineries and other stories. In like manner, Jesse’s Domestic Violence addresses a growing trend in the society and thereby positions him as a social commentator.