Women Are Heroes

Guerilla street artist JR traveled to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, Kenya, Brazil, India, and Cambodia to seek out women struggling in their everyday lives and, in his words, “to take their stories around the world.” Pasting mural-size portraits of his subjects into their own communities—on the sides of buildings, on trains, on bridges—he brings a haunting human presence to harsh environments of social conflict. His photographs of the vast outdoor “exhibitions” that he creates are iconic images celebrating the worth of the individual. A beautifully illustrated account of this remarkable project, Women Are Heroes introduces JR’s thrilling imagery of the modern landscape filled with human faces, and also includes his original photographic portraits paired with interviews in which the women share their lives and dreams.