ANITA BONNARENS
ethical Documentary photographer and Visual Storyteller committed to disrupting stereotypes, unlearning bias, and empowering new narratives.
The Gift That Shaped My Storytelling
The story behind the Mystery boy.
In 2016, I was travelling with Photographers Without Borders’ Storytelling School in Cambodia. While visiting the local Angkor Tree School, I stepped away from the group to photograph an empty classroom. As I adjusted my camera settings, I looked up, and there he was. A young boy, sitting quietly at a wooden desk, his face turned toward the soft morning light filtering through a half-open window. His chin lifted, his left arm and hand resting beside him. I didn’t move. I raised my camera and took a single frame. I glanced down at my screen, and when I looked up again, he was gone. I never saw or heard him enter the room, nor did I see him leave it. Later, when I showed the photo to the local staff, they told me he wasn’t a student of the school. Perhaps the son of a construction worker, they said. They also told me his right eye was blind. Why he came, why he posed himself in that light, I will never know. His story remains his own.
Yet in the silence he left behind, a quiet paradox revealed itself: though his story stayed untold, it gifted me one of my own. The story behind this image became the story I live today as a visual storyteller. This single frame was a quiet offering of trust, teaching me that meaningful images aren’t chased or forced but unfold when you show up with presence, openness, and care. This is how I want to carry my camera: With respect for the people I meet. With openness to what is naturally shared. With trust in moments unfolding. And with the understanding that sometimes, one true image is enough.
It’s this same mindful approach I bring to every collaboration with NGOs and community organizations—one grounded in respect for privacy and dignity, collaborative image-making, and empowering rather than extractive representation. Everything is consent-led and trauma-informed, so participants feel safe and in control, allowing the visuals to remain honest, human-centred, and true to both the story and the cause.
