For over six years, photographer Michele Zousmer was welcomed into the Irish Traveller community while she photographed, built friendships, and learned about this unique group of people. The resulting book, Mis[s]Understood (Daylight Books, November, 2024), looks at the population as a whole but particularly focuses on the role of females within the culture. Zousmer captures the pride and tenacity of this marginalized community and the daily life struggles and discrimination that the Irish Traveller people endure in Ireland.
The Irish Travellers are different from the Roma Gypsies; genetic testing has shown that they are a distinct ethnic culture dating back to the 16th century. They have their own dialect, strong cultural traditions of large families, gender roles, and deep Catholic faith. In Ireland, they experience challenges obtaining housing, jobs, and good education and are systemically targeted politically and socially. Many still live without the basics – running water, electricity, and proper bathrooms.
Writer Elin Spring‘s essay for the book discusses a paradox within this group that Zousmer found incongruous. The community’s strict adherence to their religion enforces the belief in abstinence until marriage and a code of elder respect. However, many of the young girls and teens dress in highly sexualized ways. Spring explains the cultural reasoning that Zousmer found so puzzling. Spring writes,
''While such flirtatious mannerisms belie the reality of chaste behavior, such facades allow Traveller girls to broadcast their desire for a mate under extremely restrictive rules of dating. These caricatures of femininity are a way for girls to practice adulthood. Provocative clothing and also gesturing function as an act of rebellion against an unaccepting and often patronizing society.''
A new generation of Traveller girls is working to shift this negative stereotyping and is demanding respect and dignity in a way that Zousmer found inspiring and optimistic. Her photographs show the range of both sides, as well as glimpses of daily life within the families.
The photographs are accompanied by quotes from the subjects themselves, which provides a deeper and more authentic insight into the culture. One mother reflects on her hopes for her children, also reflecting a shift in the collective thinking about gender roles and education.
''I hope my daughters don’t get married too young. I want them to have a good future. They are going to learn to read and write. I’m going to teach them to have their own independence, not to depend on a man. I think the way to have a successful community is through education. Maybe when I get older, I might go to classes to learn to read and write. My children help me. I know what it feels like to not read and write. When I was growing up, we always traveled. We left school.''
In her foreword for the book, Zousmer writes that her goal for this project is to serve as a conversation touchstone and raise awareness for this misunderstood group of people. The commonality of our humanness is shown in her photographs and the accompanying words and Zousmer shares, “I am grateful for the way I was embraced by the Irish Traveller women and girls and offer these images and stories in the hope that it brings a deeper understanding and greater acceptance to this unjustly maligned group.”
About the artist:
Michele Zousmer amplifies the voices of individuals and communities often marginalized by society. Her photographic workexpresses the essence of human existence and emotion, capturing moments that resonate with life's profound experiences – love, loss, vulnerability, strength and resilience.
About the contributor:
Elin Spring is Founder and Editor of What Will You Remember? as well as a contributing writer to many online and print magazines. Erin has also provided essays for various exhibition catalogs.
About Daylight Books:
Founded in 2003, Daylight seeks out emerging and mid-career photographic artists and showcases them to a global audience via both print and digital publishing programs. By exploring the documentary mode alongside conceptual photographic work, Daylight raises awareness about important issues of the day while revitalizing the relationship between art, photography, and the world at large.
