Nothing but a Curtain
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Dates2021 - 2021
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Author
- Locations Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria
This series combines photography with textiles to explore gender identity in countries once behind the Iron Curtain, the former socio-political barrier that divided the “East” from the “West”. I traveled along the former Iron Curtain border across Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungry, Romania, and Bulgaria. I documented 104 women, non-binary and transgender people who like myself were born in or after 1989 after the Berlin Wall fell down.
These countries are often described as the “Eastern Bloc”, lumping a diverse population into a homogenous mass. My aim is to challenge stereotypes about womanhood and gender identity and Eastern Europe. The project also includes individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community to promote diversity, visibility, and acceptance. As a Polish photographer and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I face discrimination, rejection, and fear because of my sexuality.
Many Central and Eastern European countries have fewer rights, worse living conditions, and less supportive public opinion of LGBTQIA+ communities. More than ever, stories from behind the former “Iron Curtain” deserve to be told, as they are still censored or even banned internally within these countries. With this project, I want to challenge the way that Central and Eastern European women and non-binary people are presented and contribute to a discussion about borders and gender identity in the 21st Century.
To incorporate the divisive history between the “East” and the “West” I shot this project on a Kiev 80, a Soviet analogue camera made in 1978 in a Ukrainian military factory. The metal shutter of the camera imprints a metaphorical “curtain” within the images, echoing the way Soviet history has shaped gender identity.
The project combines analogue photography with a textile curtain to push the boundaries of visual storytelling.