Discovering the world through the eyes of female creatives, "A Different View on..." is a new series exploring how different creatives are challenging conventions within their field. Each episode highlights women who share a sense of duty and responsibility to create ecological, social, and economic impact. Produced by Friends of Friends in collaboration with organic skincare brand Dr. Hauschka, the first episode travels to Munich to disover new ways of photographing conflict.

Operating in a space outside of most people’s comfort zones, German photojournalist and filmmaker Julia Leeb has traveled the world documenting areas of conflict and uses virtual reality techniques to take viewers to remote areas, such as Transnistria in Moldova and the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. In this profile film, Leeb opens up about her alternative approach to documentation and explains how her practice is centered on compassion, understanding, and peace promotion.

“A lot of people end up helping just based on knowing more, and from seeing what’s going on in the world,” says Leeb, who feels it is her job to make people aware of the abuse and political unrest around the world. “Schools are started, programs initiated. There becomes a circle of good.”

It is often overlooked and marginalized individuals that draw Leeb’s attention. Her report on women living under the rule of a warlord in the jungle of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was nominated for the Peter Scholl-Latour award. “When I travel to places where women are treated with more equality, life is better,” says Leeb, “The economy is better, it’s more beautiful, children are laughing. How women are treated impacts every part of a society.”

After surviving multiple attempts on her life, Leeb’s commitment to uncovering social injustice has only been bolstered. Her poignant and oftentimes distressing images challenge the viewer to see themselves as part of a global community, where war does not take place in distant lands but is waged on all of our doorsteps.

Find out more on drhauschka.de