“... it’s easier for me like that ...”, 2021-2023
Imagine you don't feel good in your body. You fight against it. And then, at a certain point in your life, after careful consideration, you decide to change that. You decide to take whatever steps are necessary to make your outside match your inside.
But before that, life has blessed you with a relationship and children of your own. The partnership breaks up because of your decision. You have to leave your home and your children. You see your children only twice a month and they see their father.
After a while, routine sets in and you get used to it. But is that really the case? And do the children really get used to it? The years go by and you miss most of your children's childhood. And the children have a father they only see from time to time. The children grow up to be teenagers and they start to become estranged from him.
This work deals with the moments and feelings at this stage of their lives. It is about the impact that this one question of identity and the resulting decision can have on a person's life and the lives of their loved ones.
Giulia Thinnes (*1976, Luxembourg) has been working with photography for more than 10 years. After several internships with well-known photographers, she began studying photography at the Ostkreuzschule in Berlin in 2019. During her time in Berlin, she produced a series of photographs of the Tempelhofer Feld, mainly portraits of people. This series was part of a master class on portraiture and was exhibited in Berlin, Tallinn, Bremen and Luxembourg. In the autumn of 2023 she graduated from the Ostkreuz School of Photography with the work "... it's easier for me like that...". Part of this series was shown at the Prix de la Photographie - Clervaux Cité de l'image exhibition in Clervaux, and another part at the Boutographies festival in Montpellier. The work was shortlisted for the Gomma Grant and Giulia Thinnes received the CNA Grant - Aide à la création et à la diffusion en photographie 2023 for the production of the publication.