Sina Niemeyer: On Every Third Day

Noelles mother takes a swim and dives. Going out into nature has been helping her to cope with the death of her daughter.
Noelles mother takes a swim and dives. Going out into nature has been helping her to cope with the death of her daughter. | © Sina Niemeyer
Collage, left: A drawing Noelle made when she was still a kid. Right: the Ostkreuz station in Berlin, platform 8. Here Noelle met the man who later raped her and strangled her to death for at least six minutes.
Collage, left: A drawing Noelle made when she was still a kid. Right: the Ostkreuz station in Berlin, platform 8. Here Noelle met the man who later raped her and strangled her to death for at least six minutes. | © Sina Niemeyer
"Es redet niemand mehr über Noelle"
"Es redet niemand mehr über Noelle" | © Sina Niemeyer
Noelle's mother is holding a rock crystal that a friend gave to her, Noelle carved the cover when she was still alive. She always brought both to all court sessions.
Noelle's mother is holding a rock crystal that a friend gave to her, Noelle carved the cover when she was still alive. She always brought both to all court sessions. | © Sina Niemeyer
Collage, left: Noelle's mother and sister sit for a portrait - they strengthen each other. right: a feather that came to me when I had just finished working on the lake where Noelle's mother regularly goes swimming.
Collage, left: Noelle's mother and sister sit for a portrait - they strengthen each other. right: a feather that came to me when I had just finished working on the lake where Noelle's mother regularly goes swimming. | © Sina Niemeyer

Sina Niemeyer is a visual lens-based artist from Berlin whose work deals with patriarchal violence, power structures and the consequences of trauma. In her multi-part project On Every Third Day, she explores different aspects and dynamics of feminicides in Germany. She focuses explicitly on individual stories to create empathy and understanding. Here, she shows an excerpt of the first chapter about Noelle.

On the night of August 5, 2020, Noelle comes across a stranger at the train station on her way home. An hour later, she is dead. According to the investigation, the man first raped and then strangled her to death for at least six minutes. A murder that must be named what it is: a feminicide.

While this case does not even show up as a femicide in police crime statistics and media repeatedly fail to report with due respect, Sina Niemeyer shifts the focus onto Noelle's family and how this murder changed their lives. She makes Noelle's absence visible, but also her character.

The images were created in close collaboration with Noelle's mother and sister and combine photographs of Noelle's immediate environment with childhood drawings and quotes from the family, the courtroom or Sina's own thoughts. The mother experienced the work as receiving a voice in a moment where did not have any words of her own.