Janine Mapurunga is a native of Brazil who felt confined by a culture where machismo and violence against women are prevalent. At the age of 16, she left everything she knew and went to California alone in search of a place where she could spread her wings. Her undergrad work is in photography and cultural anthropology and for grad school she focused on visual culture, artistic production and research.

She got her first camera at age 10, a Christmas gift from her grandmother. At the first roll of film, she knew there was no going back and has been photographing ever since. As a documentary photographer and filmmaker, she helps people tell their stories through her work as a visual storyteller.

With the help of Capital Storytelling, Janine began sharing her own stories. Going from behind the camera to the spotlight is a scary thing for her, but she does it anyway because she believes in the power of storytelling as a tool for collective healing, understanding and compassion.