Welcome to Part 1 of our Feburary 2025 Inspirational Interview with Elena Gallina, documentary photographer and economic researcher, based in the US.
Elena Gallina is a documentary photographer and economic researcher focused on feminist development. Having grown up in Kosovo in the aftermath of the ‘99 war and worked in refugee camps in Jordan and Palestine for several years, her work is inspired by lived experience and early childhood exposure. She studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, earning an MSc in Economic and Social History and an MBA in Social Impact, where her focus was on how sports and physical movement impact womxn’s liberation and recovery from sexual violence. Following her masters’ studies she went on to become the first Artist-in-Residence for the Rhodes Trust, spending a year creating a large-scale exhibition exploring Kosovar feminism through photography and interview.
Part two of Elena’s interview will be published 3 February 2025.
All photos are courtesy of Elena Gallina.
1. What inspired you to join the movement to end violence against women (VAW)?
I grew up in Kosovo immediately following the war of ‘99. Stories of VAW surrounded me from an early age; there is a certain heaviness I can recall even at age 10 or 11, when I would interpret for English-speaking aid teams some of what my neighbours had experienced. It seemed to me this was both widespread and very hush-hush, always cloaked in pain or shame and something that made up the fabric of how we operated.
By the time I was a teenager and the Arab Spring was unfolding, it became more clear to me that the weaponisation of women’s bodies was a global phenomenon and something I wanted to work to reduce. Probably about age 16 or 17 is when I really started reading about VAW in more depth and working to understand its pervasiveness and methods for how to mitigate it.
2. Your feminist advocacy work is divided between two different roles as a documentary photographer and an economic researcher. How have your experiences in each role informed and influenced your overall approach to the fight to end VAW?
Well, they are absolutely complementary. I started out more from the research angle, thinking we could “solve” the problem with enough information on economics and political systems. I think I was hopeful I would come into an answer on exactly how you end VAW, especially gender-based violence (GBV) in war. But I was always interested in the human story and in the faces, textures and colours of those I worked directly with. This meant I turned to my camera to make sense of things–part catharsis, part communication.
Over time I came to see that often the data entirely neglects the people involved and their ability to give voice and solve. In this work so much of it is about listening, seeing, being sensitive and attentive; I think art and photography do that in a way economics and policy making can’t. I have found that in my long-form documentary practice I’m able to ask questions and seek answers to complex questions like, “What are the complications of beauty?” or “What does womanhood mean to you?” in a nuanced way that drives us closer to truth.
3. One of your documentary photography projects is ‘The New Women’ which focuses on “tokenised, weaponised, sensationalised, victimised women in conflict, as neither heroes, nor victims, shared their thoughts on what strength and beauty means to them”. Could you tell us more about that project?
Absolutely. That project was my first big documentary endeavour. I was frustrated that women in war always became a tokenised and sensationalised subject. There is a poem, The New Woman, from 1911, that talks about how the New Woman is crying out for neither beauty nor virtue, simply strength to create a new kingdom. It resonated with me because Afghan women in particular have long been cast in just one light–victim or hero. We get something similar in Kosovo.
I wanted to make a space to photograph women in a different way and give them space to just be, as nuanced and complex creatures, neither victim nor hero, just as a woman. I focused on beauty because it seems one of those things where women just can’t win. Is beauty a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a power or a curse? These were amazing questions to investigate by interviewing and photographing 27 Afghan women and teenagers all across the country and from various demographic backgrounds. I think it was also empowering for them to be part of creating their own portrait. My methodology with photography gives them the space to show the face they want to the world and that’s often overlooked in portraiture.
4. What are the particular challenges that photographers face when they work on projects focused on feminism and VAW?
That the creation of portraits needs to be a shared process, wherein subjects arrange themselves, have control of image selection, and images are taken in their natural space. You need to be sensitive to giving the “subject” space to feel comfortable and be a part of capturing their essence. Sometimes that means you have to forgo an image you think is best or that you would have wanted to use. It’s of utmost importance that you have a good rapport, that they are comfortable, that there is trust built between you. That shows in their eyes and in their posture; any observant onlooker can spot it immediately.
All of my long-form work has dealt with sensitive subject material (beauty, abuse, COVID, womanhood); it demands you arrive with a certain openness and patience. There have to be pauses; if you can’t sit still and simply allow a moment to blossom between you and the person you’re with, this isn’t the kind of photography for you.
5. What advice would you give to a photographer who is keen to help create social change by using their photography to raise awareness about VAW, which many cultures and communities still regard as a taboo topic or a non-issue?
It can be draining. The process of being trusted with someone’s story, with someone’s image, with their history and truth–it asks something of you. I can see in my own work, at the times when I’ve been most at peace and rested within myself the imagery is strongest. When I’m tapped out or have gone too long into dark places, that also shows up.
So first and foremost, ask yourself how ready you are to undertake the work and what you are prepared to absorb. Be slow, critical, and patient. Then I would say, don’t worry too much about convention; let the art lead you. There is a lot out there about “form and function” and what constitutes “a good photo” or “a good exhibition.” Don’t get too weighed down in that stuff; if you’re quiet and attentive the composition and colour will happen on its own. Know the mechanics, know yourself, know the theme and the subject. It will come together.