Being Seen amplifies voices of women overcoming homelessness, incarceration, and addiction through collaborative photography and writing workshops that promote personal growth. I transform these collaborations into diptychs for exhibition, pairing the portraits with handwritten autobiographies to make these previously invisible journeys visible.

The project emerged in 2015 from conversations during art, photography, and writing workshops I led with groups of women in Brooklyn shelters. Together, we chose to create photographic portraits with their paintings as backdrops and to document their personal narratives to complement the photographs.

This community-based approach led me to HousingPlus, a Brooklyn nonprofit supporting women, gender-diverse people, and their families as they navigate the consequences of incarceration, trauma, addiction, homelessness, and systemic poverty. I conducted similar workshops for these women who are a part of the HousingPlus community. The images embody a personal power they work to achieve on a daily basis

For each workshop, I create a portable studio with professional lights and backdrops, transforming the space into a place of creative agency. Within this space, participants determine how they want to be seen—choosing poses, props, and settings that affirm their identities and aspirations. They learn to take and print their own images to incorporate into visual journals and collages. They explore writing autobiographical poems and narratives through accessible prompts such as, “What is something important you want to say about your life?” or “How can you write a one-line autobiography?” These moments often spark powerful self-recognition. As one participant told me, “Learning photography and new art techniques has helped me connect with myself and the world around me. It’s grounding.”

The diptych images reflect larger political realities, challenging the historical silencing of marginalized voices in mainstream media. Together, the portraits and stories reshape perceptions of feminine strength, furthering compassion and restoring agency to the women featured.

Ann Rosen

Ann Rosen