Portraits Of Boston: Walk The Fine Line

“I was raised in a family of incredibly strong women, and I always thought that quality was ingrained in me as well. But I continually found myself drawn to relationships with physically and emotionally abusive men. Those were really, really terrible situations in which I gave up everything — entire paychecks, my education, my social life — to make them happy. I was embarrassed to tell people because ‘battered woman’ has a huge social stigma to it. I also thought that was what made me a good person and a strong person — the act of giving.

It took me a long time to realize that although selflessness is great, one needs to find a balance and learn how to walk the fine line between selflessness and selfishness.”

Portraits of Boston is a project of independent photographer Ivan Velinov. He is regularly sharing some of his favorite portraits with WBUR. Visit his website to see the hundreds of portraits he has taken on the streets of Boston.