Julia Firak, United by Darkness (OPEN 2021)

United by Darkness is a conceptual photography project inspired by the current fight for equal rights of women and the LGBT+ community in countries with conservative governments. It focuses on the feelings of people experiencing discrimination. Each photo represents a different topic/emotion with the use of symbols. Images are intentionally not obvious at the first glance, to provoke to think and reflect on the topic. All images were shot in the studio with mixed light shapers and the colours were achieved with colour gels. Symbolism: Red lighting bolt is a symbol of Polish women's strike, placed on face in this self-portrait, symbolises resilience amongst many other emotions. Roses are the words of support coming from others. Newspapers, overwhelmingly filling the frame, are the overload of hate speech, bad news, and negative propaganda. Plain backgrounds and minimal use of props are intentional, so the subject is not associated with a particular place, as equality issues are current in many countries.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.