Artist's Insight

 

When I was living in Krakow, one of my friends tried to get the morning-after pill. The pharmacists always asked her if she was married and where her boyfriend or husband was. Because she was French, she obtained the pill more quickly than a Polish woman, but only after lying about her marital status and paying almost 50 euros.

 

When I saw what was happening in the country with the abortion repeal law, I immediately jumped on the occasion to create a photo series. Most people did not understand why I was going there, suggesting the series would be useless. In Krakow and Warsaw, I spoke with a professor, an activist, and some of my friends to gauge their thoughts on the law. I also tried to speak with a priest after a mass, but was met with hostility. The sermon itself divided people even further, bringing up subjects such as immigrants being linked to the devil and Western Europe being described as a plague for Poland.

 

Creating this series was extremely difficult. Even with a translator, finding information was not easy. Groups posted on Facebook only on the same day of demonstrations to avoid being targeted by the police. In Krakow, I tried to capture an image of naked women who had chained themselves in front of the parliament, but I arrived too late. The hostility of the policemen reminded me constantly that cameras are also weapons, because a picture is knowledge. In Warsaw, in front of a police station where a journalist was being held, a colleague urged me to leave immediately because of the brutality of events. Later, on the train, videos started circulating showing pepper gas and uprisings.

 

Little did I know that a few years later, America would follow the same path, while France would move in the opposite direction by adding this right to their constitution.

 

This series is the shortest, but it remains the most meaningful.

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Claudia