THE EDITIONS
“My projects are often concerned with representations of ourselves related to gender. I tend to get very close to the people and the places I photograph, by spending long periods of time immersing myself in a certain environment. In 2019 I was the first artist-in-residence at the KAMEN residency. This was located in a small town in Herzegovina, a magical place near a lake with a mysterious old church in the middle. I spent two months there to research representations of femininity in a religious context. One day, a local priest came to the residency, or rather to his beehives that were on the same grounds. He had brought his son Blagoje, who is the boy sitting on top of the tree in the picture. His face looked very peculiar, almost movie-like. Eventually I did not take many pictures, but I went on a hike with him and his friend Sava along the Trebišnjica river. That is where I photgraphed them.”
I tend to get very close to the people and the places I photograph
THE PROCESS
“It feels like second nature to me to travel and spend time with the people I film or take pictures of. At times, when I am occupied with other activities, I start to miss it and I feel like I am not whole. Close human interactions are the very heart of my practice. I was raised by parents who are both cultural anthropologists, so my fascination for the human condition has always been part of my life.
The subjects I choose are very personal. For example, while creating my most recent film “Out Lookers” (2022) I was pregnant and was on the verge of a massive transformation: physically, mentally and culturally. I spend a lot of time with my mother and her friends, all women who had passed menopause. During that phase I did a lot of research on the visibility and invisibility of women throughout the centuries. I was surprised that so few older women became a main character in films, literature and art. The same goes for people who are pregnant. Mirroring these two transformations and generations were a beautiful form for me to work with.
The subjects I choose are very personal
Another important source of inspiration for me has been growing up between East- and Western Europe. I spend a part of my childhood in Poland, where I witnessed the changes of the country and its ideologies. When we emigrated, I often felt like an outsider, which brings a unique strength to my work and the subjects I photograph. I can look from the inside to the outside world and the other way around.”
THE STUDIO
“I consider the places I visit to be my studio and the background for the stories, that both my subject and I are a part of. My own studio is quite organized. I am not a messy person by nature and the medium I work with requires special attention in terms of storage and safekeeping. But I also know that new things can emerge from the chaos of the unexpected. When I am in my studio, I hope to always discover something new or find a new connection. This can be very pragmatic, for instance trying out a different lens or finding new people I want to photograph. Besides the large projects I do, I also work on portraiture commissions and have several ongoing small projects. For the latter, I don’t always know what it is going to be in the end. For example, taking pictures of a pregnant friend, a portrait of a neighbors dog, or other images that have been on my mind for a while.”
