Women Are Heroes - In Kibera Slum train passage 1

With Women Are Heroes – In Kibera Slum Train Passage 1, created in 2010, JR documents one of the most powerful interventions from his internationally renowned Women Are Heroes project. The photograph captures a train crossing through Kibera, one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements, where monumental portraits of women’s faces were installed directly onto the train cars. As the train moves through the landscape, the portraits appear as fragmented yet monumental presences overlooking the neighborhood, transforming an ordinary means of transportation into a moving public artwork. Through this intervention, JR highlights the dignity, resilience, and visibility of women living within marginalized communities. The contrast between the monumental portraits and the surrounding urban environment creates a striking visual tension between fragility and strength, movement and permanence. The composition reflects JR’s signature approach: integrating photography into public space on an architectural scale while creating artworks deeply connected to the social realities of the communities involved.