L'Amour Amor

This project addresses historical, cultural and economic issues that are at the root of femicides and violence against women in Mexico, and gives an overview of their evolution from the 90's until today.

Between personal experiences and political history, L'Amour Amor(*) will combine documentary photography, reporting and an artistic approach.

With this project, I am interested in the historical, cultural and economic issues that are at the root of femicide and violence against women in Mexico, as well as the consequences of this type of violence and what the “after” of an attempted femicide means.

Articulating personal stories, testimonies, my own memories, photographs and archive images, I seek to show how these personal stories are confronted with “reality”, and in particular with the mediatization of “reality”, and what they bring to light: the obstacles these women face in daily, to survive in a continuum of violence that exists well beyond the family and the couple, but also, the resilience and resistance that are built in order to face domination.

(*)"L'Amour Amor" pronounced in French: "L'amour à mort", is an expression that means Love Till Death.

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
i

Trying to understand the social structures where femicides originate, I start to question the power of these kind of representations and the messages they convey.

© Lisa Gervassi - These images that we see in our daily life, since childhood, in our family albums, are they really harmless?
i

These images that we see in our daily life, since childhood, in our family albums, are they really harmless?

© Lisa Gervassi - "no me saques sin razón ni me enfundes sin honor" (do not take me out without reason or holster me without honor).
i

"no me saques sin razón ni me enfundes sin honor" (do not take me out without reason or holster me without honor).

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
i

I grew up looking at photos like this one, with 0% of women in management positions; or listening to comments like: “women cook all the time, yet the best chefs are male”.

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
© Lisa Gervassi - Anti-monument to remember the mothers of the Ayotzinapa students as well as recent victimes of femicide.
i

Anti-monument to remember the mothers of the Ayotzinapa students as well as recent victimes of femicide.

© Lisa Gervassi - Roundabout of the Women who Fight, in Mexico City.
i

Roundabout of the Women who Fight, in Mexico City.

© Lisa Gervassi - Graffitti found on the sculpture Puerta 1808 of Manuel Felguérez: "we will kill if necessary".
i

Graffitti found on the sculpture Puerta 1808 of Manuel Felguérez: "we will kill if necessary".

© Lisa Gervassi - Tattoo of Anaís Palacios (human rights defender, companion in the search for missing persons) “Where are they?”
i

Tattoo of Anaís Palacios (human rights defender, companion in the search for missing persons) “Where are they?”

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
i

I found a correlation in terms of framing and composition with the photographs that were taken of women victims of domestic violence and the religious iconography. How engraved in us are these representations, which convey polarized perceptions of women?

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
i

Representation of a Cihuateotl. In the prehispanic civilizations, the Cihuateteoh ​​were honored as fallen warriors for losing their lives in giving birth, like male warriors when killed in battle.

© Lisa Gervassi - Portrait of a woman demanding justice for her sister, who was brutally murdered in 2019.
i

Portrait of a woman demanding justice for her sister, who was brutally murdered in 2019.

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
i

This was the first place in Mexico where the conquistador Hernán Cortés settled to live. The perspective of coloniality seems important to me to be integrated in order tounderstand the evolution of femicide violence in this country.

© Lisa Gervassi - Abandoned place in La Antigua, Veracruz, where the conquistador Hernán Cortés first settled to live.
i

Abandoned place in La Antigua, Veracruz, where the conquistador Hernán Cortés first settled to live.

© Lisa Gervassi - Grace (survivor of attempted femicide) and her son finally reunited, after 1.5 years of vicarious violence.
i

Grace (survivor of attempted femicide) and her son finally reunited, after 1.5 years of vicarious violence.

© Lisa Gervassi - Image from the L'Amour Amor photography project
© Lisa Gervassi - Portrait of Yuli Camacho, survivor of attempted femicide.
i

Portrait of Yuli Camacho, survivor of attempted femicide.

Latest Projects

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.