The subject of those photos is my dear friend Ania. She reached out to me at the beginning of the year to ask me to take her pictures because she struggled with her self-image. Last November, I finally returned to Poland, and we decided to shoot. The images were taken in Kampinos National Park near Warsaw.

The title comes from the concept of Mirror Stage and explains the moment when we as children see ourselves for the first time in front of a mirror and recognise ourselves as an entity, separated from the mother. It explains the conflict that we have as complex beings and the difficulty to embrace ourselves, seeing ourselves for who we are.

Therefore the mirrors work as a metaphor and surround her in the image. They are a call out for Ania to see herself. To recognise herself.

Mirror Stage is one of my favourite collections to date because it is very personal and emotional to us. The theme for the collection is Slavic mythology, which gives a heavy and mysterious feeling to it.