He Threw the Last Punch Too Hard

September 30, 2023 - January 7, 2024

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 6-8pm

He Threw the Last Punch Too Hard postcard

Image: Rachel: Double exposure, July 15, 2015.

ReflectSpace Gallery was honored to present "He Threw the Last Punch Too Hard," an evocative and emotional exhibit by acclaimed photographer Hannah Kozak. This profoundly powerful collection details the artist’s mother, Rachel, through her life and journey with domestic violence. Through her lens, Kozak shares a poignant narrative of strength, resilience, and healing.

“I began photographing my mother in December 2009 as a way to process my feelings towards a mother I had never truly known and hoped by photographing her, I could bring closure to an open wound I had my entire life. In the process, I grew to love my mother and this project, “He Threw the Last Punch Too Hard”, was born. I think her story could inspire others to leave an abusive relationship before it’s too late. “

Hannah Kozak's work has received widespread acclaim for its raw and unflinching portrayal of domestic violence and the generational impact of abuse. Her images capture the emotions, struggles, and ultimate triumphs of her mother’s adversity and the path to forgiveness between child and parent. When Kozak was 9, her mother left their family after falling in love with another man. The man she left them for turned out to be violent: he beat Rachel so badly that she suffered permanent brain damage and had to be moved into an assisted living facility at the age of 41, where she lived for 35 years. It wasn’t until Kozak suffered physical trauma of her own that she began visiting her mother and saw her in whole, allowing her to dissolve her judgments and anger. “Forgiveness happens when you care more about the love in a relationship than the logic of your ego. I no longer pity my mother. She continually inspires me teaching me to live by my heart, not my head.”

In addition to the exhibit in ReflectSpace Gallery, The Clothesline Project, presented by YWCA of Glendale and Pasadena, was on display in Central Library’s PassageWay Gallery. The Clothesline Project is a visual display of violence statistics that often go ignored. Each shirt is made by a survivor of violence or by someone who has lost a loved one to violence related to assault and abuse. The color of each shirt represents a different type of violence. An opening reception was held on Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 6-8pm at ReflectSpace Gallery, located inside Central Library. The exhibit, which was originally scheduled to close on December 10, 2023, was extended through January 7, 2024. Free parking is available with validation at the Marketplace parking structure across the street from the Harvard entrance. ReflectSpace is co-curated by Ara and Anahid Oshagan.

Exhibition content may be unsuitable for some viewers.

Gallery Guide

Accompanying Book List

About the Artist

Hannah Kozak was born to a Polish father and a Guatemalan mother in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 10, she was given a Kodak Brownie camera by her father, Sol, a survivor of 8 Nazi forced labor camps and she began instinctively capturing images of dogs, flowers, family and friends that felt honest and real. As a teenager growing up in Los Angeles, Hannah would sneak onto movie lots and snap photos on the sets of Charlie’s Angels, Starsky and Hutch and Family, selling star images to movie magazines and discovering a world that was far from reality. Hannah has turned the camera on herself, her life and her world. She continues to look for those things that feel honest and real, using her camera as a means of exploring feelings and emotions. Hannah is an autobiographical photographer. Her subjects are the people and places that touch her emotionally. She has been photographing people and places for four decades. Photography has the power to heal and to help us through difficult periods, something Hannah Kozak knows firsthand from personal experience.

Domestic Violence Resources from Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Council

Every person experiencing intimate partner violence (also called domestic violence) deserves help and support. Find resources and valuable information for anyone impacted by intimate partner violence in the DVC booklet, Reaching Out. The booklet is available to download in English, Spanish, Armenian, Tagalong, Korean, Chinese (simplified), Japanese, and Vietnamese.

Reaching Out Booklet

GLAC Blog - Domestic Abuse