Guadalajara, Mexico -- Maria Cristerna, 35-year-old lawyer turned video jockey, lives in a dangerous Mexico ghetto where violent gang culture is rife. However, people who see her for the first time would often walk on the other side of the road.
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Cristerna, dubbed The Vampire Lady, is covered head-to-toe in tattoos, had dental work so she appeares to have fangs and has even had titanium horns inserted into her head.
Although she grew up in a deeply religious family, having endured many years of domestic abuse, she says she has always been different.
The mother-of-four leads an active social life, often giving talks on domestic violence to women who have suffered the same ordeal as her. She also travels the world as a video jockey.
Her friends say local people used to call Maria possessed by the devil, or a drug addict, or just insane. Now, they "kiss her hands and almost worship her".
Maria Cristerna says, "I am expressing beauty through my art for the world to see. God lives inside of me, and I believe it is what I do daily for others and my actions that make me who I am, not how I look or my appearance.
"Yes, I like people to look at me but I am a product of my experiences and what I have seen around me since very young. I have always been different!
"We all have the power to change the world if that is what we choose to do. Even if it is just changing your own world or circumstances. We have the power within us all".
Do you agree with her point of view? What would you think if you saw her in the street?
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