A Desire to Run

How it feels to be a woman in 2026.

Running has always been a recurring and enduring theme in my life, personally and creatively. As Frida Kahlo said "I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim". When I was in school, I was proudly one of the fastest runners in my state. Running was a non rebellious form of escapism for me. In adolescence I found other ways to escape. In adulthood, I reconnected with myself and with my love for running. I run for pleasure. I run for medicinal purposes and I still find myself running to escape.

I'm also seeing a collective desire to run. To run from oppression, the system, capitalism, control, AI, patriarchy, inequality, genocide, impending totalitarianism, elitism, racism, power, fascism, and incessant exploitation. We run from tragedy, apathy, sexuality, desire, pain, sorrow, insecurity, stereotypes, role playing, heartache, grief and reality. We run from family, traditions, countries and continents. We run from danger, from lies and we run from the truth. In some places we even run from the heat. And we constantly run from ourselves. More and more, it feels like we are running with nowhere to go.

And now, furiously bubbling under the surface is a collective desire to run to the beat of a different drum where we are no longer powerless spectators of a society in serious decay and decline. En masse, we are taking back control and becoming agents of our own destiny. This shift to action is in itself an act of hope, defiance and beauty.

Marie, aged 26, photographed in Greece in 2026. 

My goal was to photograph Marie with absolute honesty, creating authentic, natural imagery that captures her vulnerability, her strength and sensuality. I wanted to depict her in the way that I feel every day—naked, exposed, sensitive, unprotected, insecure, alone, young, old, fearful, fragile, bold, mighty, energised, loving, hopeful.