Three mirrors of self-presentation
In my photographic trilogy, we encounter a woman in three roles—three stagings, three contexts, three interpretations. The works play with symbolism, posture, and visual language to reflect on existential questions of the present: How free are we in a world that constantly sees, evaluates, and shapes? Where does self-empowerment begin, and where does it end in pretense?
A quiet image with great tension.
The woman looks at her smartphone, seemingly absorbed, while a goldfish swims in circles in the glass bowl in front of her—under constant observation.
In reference to Michel Foucault's concept of the panopticon, it becomes clear that even without a visible observer, the system of control still functions.
The smartphone becomes the normative authority of the digital public sphere.
Gold as a recurring motif refers to the economic structures behind this supposed self-determination.
Beauty here becomes a mask of conformity.
The same woman—in motion, in glitter, in the light of the disco. Eyes closed, seemingly free, devoted.
But even this moment is staged.
The pose, the setting, the lighting—everything follows a choreography that dictates what liberation must be.
Freedom is made consumable, staged, and standardized.
It is a moment of intoxication—and an escape from depth.
The third photograph breaks with the others.
No posing, no pretense, no distraction.
The woman sits on a motorcycle, self-assured, calm, direct.
Here, a different space emerges: one that is not observed, but carried by independence.
The motorcycle stands not only for mobility, but also for the possibility of setting one's own course.
This attitude rejects the aesthetics of conformity.
It stands for a freedom that does not shine – but carries.
The work was published on September 10, 2025, in "The Style Researcher – Lifestyle & Fashion No. 22."
Chromatic Awards 2025 – Honorable Mention (Amateur), Conceptual category – "Woman" & "Woman II"
