What does it mean not to be able or allowed to make individual decisions for your own life?

How does oppression, coercion and pressure affect the human psyche?

In the summer of 2022, Lis Kortmann interviewed and portrayed mostly woman on these questions who were born in Iran and now live in Germany.
Since expressing a critical opinion towards the Iranian regime may have consequences for the participants themselves and/or their families still living in Iran, Kortmann has chosen a photographic form that does not clearly depict any of the women and men in proven forms.
Technically, she captured views into an uneven, reflective surface. The images seem to reflect feelings of inner turmoil, insecurity, sadness, fear, humiliation, disillusionment or resignation that people whose right to freedom of expression and personal development are severely restricted have to deal and live with.
At the same time the images unfold and emphasize through their distorted representation a profound and diverse view of individual human personalities. Opposites such as strength and vulnerability, sadness nd happiness, seriousness and playfulness, beauty and ugliness, showing and hiding lie side by side and complement each other to form complex images of courageous humans who are not afraid to show even more than their visible surface: their inner self.