How to tell a Herstory
Some stories are never told. Even though they deserve to be heard.
How to Tell a Herstory is a unique platform, tool and workshop for telling narratives about women, to witness and celebrate their experiences. A “her-story” highlights the women’s perspective, as opposed to the dominant “his-story”. At the heart of this project are women storytellers and their narratives of love, belonging and migration told through the family photo album. The aim of the platform is to open a space for thinking and critical reflection on gender, migration and familial power structures seen through the lens of vernacular photography.
Each herstory begins with a few photographs of the story’s subject, selected by the narrator and uploaded to our Herstory Tool, a machine learning application specially developed in collaboration with technologist Babusi Nyoni. The tool reads the photos using object detection, proximity and sentiment analysis and then prompts the storyteller into a narrative flow. The completed herstory is a visual essay with text, photos, annotations and spoken notes.
Through a public call, we invited participation in storytelling workshops with a primary focus on migrant women. The workshops were moderated by photographic artist Ebru Aydin and held at De Voorkamer, a cultural meeting place in Utrecht. The resulting visual stories formed part of an installation at De Voorkamer, created in collaboration with the textile artist Marjolein van der Wal.
About affect lab
Affect lab is an award-winning research practice and creative studio led by Klasien van de Zandschulp and Dr. Natalie Dixon. In collaboration with an international artistic network, the lab uses design research, experimental fieldwork and immersive storytelling to impact social change. All affect lab projects follow principles of care and empathy for the local culture and community, with a focus on co-creation.
