Mujeres de la Guerra

Lyn first came to El Salvador in 2009 as an elections observer and teacher with the Northwest School. She was inspired by the stories of the organized people of the community Huisisilapa, El Paisnal. Many people, especially women, talked about their lives from before, during and after the war. Lyn was impressed by their resilience and fortitude and wanted to learn more.

Lyn and Theodora (Tedde) met in El Salvador the following year. Finding much inspiration in the women of rural El Salvador, the collaboration began. Lyn would return to El Salvador three times over the next two years to photograph and interview the women.

Over the course of two years, through many beans and tortillas, cups of sweet coffee in women’s homes and dusty, bumpy truck rides into communities, Lyn and Tedde had the opportunity to fall in love with these twenty-eight organized women. After spending time in their homes and communities and with their families, Lyn and Tedde are honored to document their stories.

Lyn McCracken is an artist, photographer, and educator. Her work is primarily documentary and includes a variety of themes: laborers, gangs in San Francisco, the Cypress Street Bridge (after the Loma Prieta Earthquake), and cultural and architectural images from Cuba, Peru, and El Salvador. Lyn has an ongoing interest in the role of photographic images as catalysts or indicators of social change. She currently teaches at The Northwest School in Seattle.

Theodora Simon has lived and worked in El Salvador for the past six years, accompanying the organized people in their struggle for justice, and working with international solidarity. She has worked in alternative, sustainable development and women’s empowerment, supporting communities and organizations as they identify and propose solutions to their own problems.