“I Am Not Your Animal” by Photographer Aline Deschamps

Aline Deschamps is a Thai-French photographer at this time primarily based in Beirut, Lebanon. Passionate about geopolitics and visible arts, Deschamps’ do the job tackles social concerns these types of as id, exile, and cultural heritage. In her hottest sequence, “I Am Not Your Animal,” she follows the everyday life of Sierra Leonean migrant domestic workers she met in Beirut in 2020, documenting their encounters in Beirut and their reintegration again into their homeland in 2022.

“The series’ title stems from the discussions I had with this team of gals, most of whom experienced escaped from abusive homes and were being victims of human trafficking,” Deschamps explains. “During the exchanges, all of them shared how a great deal they felt dehumanized after they established foot in Lebanon. Just one sentence held remaining repeated: ‘They did not deal with me like a human, they dealt with me like an animal.’”

“‘I Am Not Your Animal’ aims to translate this intersectional working experience of remaining a black migrant lady in Lebanon, going through systemic racism in a country in which the black body is generally reduced to one particular situation: the 1 of a ‘servant’. It also wishes to translate a far more latent and own violence: the a person of becoming stranded in a overseas state, and of trying to talk the unspeakable with the families again residence. By juxtaposing these women’s letters with their each day everyday living images, the task highlights their resilience observed in exile, the distressing reintegration into their culture, and the remarkable bond of motherhood which enabled equally sacrifices and the obligation of survival – regardless of the length.” 

See a lot more from “I Am Not Your Animal” underneath.