Why I photograph women

I didn't decide one day that I wanted to photograph women.

It came about because it was obvious. Because I had to. Because I couldn't have done it any other way.

It took me a long time to understand why.

When I photograph a woman, I think of all the women we haven't looked at. The ones we've hidden. Silenced. Destroyed.

And I think of myself too.

I come from a world where women don't say ‘I’.

They do, they take it, they obey, they repeat. They've learnt that you have to survive. Not dream. Not think. Not hope.

I wanted to live. And living, for me, started with understanding. Understanding what I'd been through. What the women around me had been through. And that all this wasn't just an intimate matter. It was political.

So I photographed. Because the words weren't coming out yet. And then one day, the two came together.

What I want to create

When a woman is in front of me, I don't want her to play a role. I want her to exist. To breathe. To take her place. To see herself. I want her to look at herself differently. Not with the look that has been imposed on her all her life. But with her own.

And perhaps with mine too.

My photos are not there to look pretty, to please, to fit in with standards. They are not retouched to smooth, erase or erase. They are there to say: You have the right to be there. You are whole. You are strong. You are alive. And you are beautiful.

All the women I photograph are beautiful. Not because they fit a norm. But because they resist. Because they exist. Because they choose to show themselves as they are. Because, by revealing themselves, they want to transmit strength. To share something positive with girls, with women, with those who watch.

They pose, yes. But what they are doing above all is acting. They show what we don't want to see. They show what remains. What comes back. What is still burning. And here I am. I collect. I document. I archive. I transmit.

What I'm looking for

Photographing women is perhaps my own way of making amends. To create a space. A safe place. A light that doesn't betray. A place where stories can exist. Where bodies can breathe.

I want people to see us. To be heard. To be seen differently.

I want to propose other models. Far from the filters, the injunctions, the Instagram bodies.

Real women. Authentic. Vibrant. Complex. Powerful.

I want every image to say: We're not afraid any more. Even if sometimes we're still afraid.

We decide to stop shaking. Because we're here. Together.

Pauline Makoveitchoux, 14 avril 2025