BodyNegatives

The experience of living with the trauma of war inevitably creates an existential fear of one's disappearance. In this state, a person strives, both consciously and unconsciously, to feel himself to some extent and at least temporarily internally integrated, whole. Body awareness is the only thing that can now give a sense of security and, albeit fleeting, confidence in at least something. The subtle connection between the psyche and the body is difficult to grasp and hold. The psyche resists this sense of integration with its body to protect us as best it can. It forbids us to feel and react to reality - because there is violence, pain and horror. Therefore, this wholeness, acquired with great difficulty through the awareness of one's body, tends to fall apart again. And we have only a moment to snatch from the darkness the imprint of our own vitality. In the "BodyNegatives" series, I grab onto these prints the way they usually hurt themselves trying to wake up. Photographing the female body becomes a starting point for me in controlling my own experiences. Once inside the lens, it is no longer just a body. As a symbol of the continuation of life, it is the opposite of the dehumanization process that accompanies war.