A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

2012 — 2015

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“But I will tell you also what I do not fear. I do not fear to be alone or to be spurned for another or to leave whatever I have to leave. And I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake, and perhaps as long as eternity too”. 

—James Joyce, ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man‘, 1916

I grew up in a culture where women were declared equal to men. This, however, applied to their jobs not to domestic duties, which remained exclusively an obligation of women. They hardly ever got to the top management positions but instead aimed to get happily married and dedicate themselves firstly to the families and then to their jobs. When photography came into my life, I began to realise that the myriad of possibilities and perspectives that it afforded were much more interesting than any dream of ‘marrying a prince’. With my move to the UK, I was lucky to meet women who shared my thoughts, were passionate about their careers, and wanted a freedom of choice in what they would aim in their lives. Most of these women have moved to a new country, as I have, not to get married, but to realise their own potential in whatever they do: write, draw, paint, photograph or invent. Working in collaboration with them, I tried to find the ways to photograph each of them as a unique and strong personality in her own working environment. For me, these women are my peers and represent a new generation of impassioned young intellectuals who are not afraid to undertake risks and break the rules.