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#endrevengeporn
The project "And They Lived Happily Until the First Picture" documented for the first time a phenomenon that teenagers in schools and high schools in Romania experience every day.
With the help of a Superwriting Grant, our team, "And They Lived Happily Until the First Picture," embarked on a project about the phenomenon of revenge porn among Romanian teenagers. Maria Ruxandra Burcescu, Nicole Root and Alexandra Crisbășan researched the phenomenon, uncovering multiple cases and situations of revenge porn.
In the past few months, we have spoken with hundreds of teenagers. We visited several high schools in different cities and had discussions with students both in class and privately. It never happened that we went to a classroom in a high school in Bucharest or in the provinces where we were told they didn't know at least one case of revenge porn in their vicinity.
The final material will be published on the Republica platform in the form of a series of articles. The project's vernissage took place on November 3, 2017, starting at 19:00 at Gallery, featuring photo collages created by Alexandra Crisbășan. During the vernissage, a discussion was held about what revenge porn means, how we conducted this documentary, what issues we discovered, and what measures can be taken against this phenomenon. The discussion was moderated by Karin Budrugeac. Thank you very much, Karin!
We would like to thank the Fundatia Friends for Friends and Avon Space/ Campania Respectului for their support through the Superwriting Grants.
Special thanks to ANAV / Gallery for promotion, hosting and assistance in supporting the event.
By Ruxandra Burcescu and Nicoleta Rădăcină.
Photographs / Collages by Alexandra Crisbăşan.
🧩 Articles are in Romanian 📜
READ EPISODE 1
"A provincial town. The girl-boy-photography-breakup-revenge: that's how all the 'revenge porn' stories in Romanian high schools begin. From here on, each personal story follows its own path. However, none of them end with a happy ending. Sometimes the outcome is expulsion, other times filing a police complaint, and sometimes even attempted suicide. Most of the time, though, such incidents are technically 'without consequences.' However, they burn relentlessly forever on the pyre of public judgment. This is a harsh court, one that usually passes judgment without the need for hearings and reconstructions; a court that has never yet, to our knowledge, unanimously acquitted the naked body in the photograph."
READ EPISODE 2
"The story of Evelina, Răzvan, and the photograph where the whole school saw her naked began like most high school romances: beautifully. They met at school, behind the sports hall, where everyone gathered during breaks for a smoke. It was late September, Evelina was in the ninth grade back then, and she had gone out, as usual, to smoke. A boy with a round face came up to her – she remembers noticing that, when he smiled, his dark eyes formed crescent shapes. He was sturdy, had a hint of unshaven beard, and many tattoos that gave him a bad boy vibe. He asked if he could sit next to her; she replied with a simple "yes." He put a hand in his pocket, pulled out a cigarette butt, and asked for a light; in his other hand, he held a notebook with a blue cover and a pen. "I was looking at him... with pity, it seemed," Evelina remembers. "I gave him a cigarette and a light, because I was dying... I was thinking to myself, 'Look, Evelina, the last junkie next to you.'"
READ EPISODE 3
" We’re in a high school class in Bucharest, sitting in front of them, leaning on the chair and ask them about the relationships of teenage couples. From somewhere, in the distance, a lazy hum is heard; it is the sound of a lawnmower. When the discussion turns to "intimate photos or videos," the atmosphere in the classroom changes. The giggling stops almost entirely. Whispered lines, furtive glances, a few students put their elbows on the benches and crane their necks forward, to watch what's next. It's quiet; only two guys in the back are still nudging each other. A girl puts on lip gloss, gives them a longing look, then says that the only solution to revenge porn is for girls to post pictures of boys. The class bursts into laughter and applause."
COLLAGES FOR THE EVENT
Many thanks to the models:
Irina-Florentina Fieraru, Maria Isabella și Anca Ghenu.
PS: There was also an interview on iQads
"And They Lived Happily Until the First Picture" took a stroll,
alongside Nicoleta Rădăcină and Ruxandra Burcescu, at #CSR4WOMEN 2017!