Living with the Enemy [Hardcover]

Donna Ferrato (Photographer), Ann Jones (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1991

This critically acclaimed, graphic report on family violence reveals the lives of ordinary women-and the men who batter them.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Searing photographic images of woman battering-the beatings, the wounds, the crying children, the police in the house-with riveting text as well. A crucial work by an award-winning photographer.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"A gripping work of photojournalism. . . . The photographer's straight-on-style never exaggerates or sensationalizes."--People magazine

"Living with the Enemy is a book that is difficult to pick up and impossible to put down. It is a book that will completely transform assumptions about battered women and the men who abuse them."--Elizabeth Hess, The Women's Review of Books

"Ferrato's grim achievement is to tear down the curtain, revealing ordinary women--and yes, the men who batter them--in desperately ordinary kinds of pain. . . [It is] a new kind of work: journalism focused on intimate domestic affairs; combat photography in the home."--
The Washington Post

"With great force and compassion, Ferrato has traced domestic violence against women from its ambiguous social origins to its most violent physical manifestations. Her stark black-and-white photographs and straightforward text constitute a work of far-reaching sociological and photographic significance."--Friends of Photography newsletter

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Aperture (September 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089381489X
• ISBN-13: 978-0893814892
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 8.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Abuse & Self Defense > Domestic Violence

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read... by award-winning Donna Ferrato, June 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Living with the Enemy (Hardcover)

I first came across Ferrato's pictures in *Ms.* magazine. The pictures struck me with their realism and honesty. How, I wondered, did this woman get involved in this issue? As a survivor of domestic violence myself, I felt that she had helped to give a voice to all women, whether currently in abusive relationships, or already free and in the process of healing. It ended up that, through friends of friends (you know how that goes... small world)... I met Donna. I didn't even realize she was the author of this book until one day, while sitting in Donna's apartment, she showed me a few of her photos. I immediately recognized them. "Donna.. I had no idea... I have those exact pictures on my bulletin board!" I told her about how I felt when I first saw the photos in *Ms.* magazine. Then I had the opportunity to hear the story of how Donna explored the world of domestic violence, actually living with and photographing couples, as well as living in shelters and jails along with women who were surviving abuse. Donna's life was so changed that she began the Domestic Abuse Awareness Project (DAAP) in New York, devoting her career to educating people about this issue. I keep the book on my coffee table, rather than in my bookshelves, so that it might start conversations in my home with friends. You never know when someone might need the information that the book gives. I highly, highly reccommend this book. It can truly change lives. It's one loud shout to the world that domestic violence can not remain hidden behind closed doors. Best of luck to you!-A Survivor in Arizona

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars shocking book, April 23, 2000

By 

amalia (indonesia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living with the Enemy (Hardcover)

I read donna feratto book, when iam working for campaign for violence against women. that book is not just pictures. It shows to us the unbalance structure of relationship between man and woman, and woman and state. She's really doing this book in the sense of what people in anthropology called "depth" It shows something that people and community wants to hide. Because it's domestic, instead the costs that have to pay by domestic violence

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but old, June 9, 2009

By 

A. Hendje "superA" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Donna Ferrato: Living With The Enemy (Paperback)

I liked this book! It's really good....it's just an older book. I was buying this as a counseling tool- and it's still effective- I just wish it were a little more modern. The images are real, and that is the point. The pictures are from the early 80's I think.