--- title: Donna Ferrato: Black Eyes Don’t Lie description: Donna Ferrato, whose photographs of domestic violence have been seen around the world, writes about the power of bearing witness to victims canonical: https://time.com/5153687/domestic-abuse-photographs/ author: Donna Ferrato article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-12T21:56:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:07.331Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Photographer Donna Ferrato: Black Eyes Don’t Lie og:description: The acclaimed photographer writes about how photography is the evidence of abuse that nobody can look away from og:url: https://time.com/5153687/domestic-abuse-photographs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1cf50438a22a3a99/698927347cdbacd309d5bec5/donna-ferrato-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1134&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1134 og:image:height: 638 og:image:alt: Ruth, the Original Unbeatable Woman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Photographer Donna Ferrato: Black Eyes Don’t Lie twitter:description: The acclaimed photographer writes about how photography is the evidence of abuse that nobody can look away from twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1cf50438a22a3a99/698927347cdbacd309d5bec5/donna-ferrato-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1134&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Photographer Donna Ferrato: Black Eyes Don’t Lie > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Donna Ferrato](https://time.com/author/donna-ferrato/) ## Donna Ferrato Feb 12, 2018 9:56 PM UTC  Ruth, the Original Unbeatable Woman Ruth, the Original Unbeatable WomanDonna Ferrato by [Donna Ferrato](https://time.com/author/donna-ferrato/) ## Donna Ferrato Feb 12, 2018 9:56 PM UTC She didn’t run into a door. She didn’t get punched by a stranger in the street. Someone who claimed to love her did this. The nurses and doctors in the ER know it. The cops know it. The neighbors know it. The children know it. But no one really wants to know it. Women with black eyes make people uneasy. _He seems like such a great guy! Such a great father, such a great athlete, such a great provider. He said, she said. She’s lying. Or she provoked him. He’s well connected. Let’s give him another chance._ And another. He has the power. He has the money. Judges and lawyers often worry first about his ability to support the family —never mind how badly he hurts everyone living under the same roof. And society looks away from the woman’s face.  Donna Ferrato The black eye is usually inflicted when the children are in bed and there is nobody around. But one night I was a witness, and I opened the book on society’s hypocrisy. When I saw a woman being threatened and punched by the father of her three sons, I was scared but prepared, because I had a camera in my hands. Caught on this marital battleground, my instincts told me to get the proof. When I saw his hand rise up to hit her, I knew I had to freeze that moment of truth. My series of photographs changed my outlook. I could no longer be a denier. I saw the whole picture. He was in the wrong, and she was trapped in the gilded cage of his warped world. I was a witness with a camera, and my documentation improved her chance of being believed.  Garth and Lisa Donna Ferrato  Donna Ferrato From that point everything changed. My photograph of a battered woman cowering in the bathroom became a cry against violence in the home. It was the first time society was forced to look at the mess under the rug. Now I too had a dream: Someday the world would wake up to the disadvantage that women have in their intimate relationships with men. I would make everyone look into their eyes. Last week [Colbie Holderness](https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/rob-porter-photos-colbie-holderness.html) bravely went [public](http://time.com/5137990/rob-porter-white-house-resignation-domestic-abuse-allegations/) with a photograph of her black-and-blue face. The photo was taken by Rob Porter, the man who allegedly abused her, his other ex-wife, [Jennie Willoughby](http://time.com/5143589/rob-porter-ex-wife-trump-domestic-violence/), and an unnamed ex-girlfriend. Soon afterwards, the president of the United States stood in the Oval Office and announced his [support](http://time.com/5139760/rob-porter-donald-trump-domestic-violence/) for Rob Porter. It was his word against hers, he said, and he believed his staff secretary. But the President can’t sweep that photograph of Holderness’s black eyes under the rug. Everyone can see the truth there. 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