Painted with Light (2025)

Before I began photographing these portraits, I felt a sense of respect. I did not want to photograph traditional dress in the way it is often presented — as folklore decoration, made-up young women, images created for effect. I was careful not to turn the costumes into something they never were. That is why I approached the work slowly and with caution. I wanted the viewer to feel as if they were looking at historical photographs — but made today. From a time when people did not stand in front of a camera every day, when it was an exceptional moment and the image itself was not yet taken for granted.

The garments come from the Myjava region and the Bošácka Valley, where traditional folk dress was not only a matter of aesthetics, but part of a precise social system. From clothing, one could tell where a person came from, their age, whether they were single or married, in mourning or celebrating. Dress changed according to the season, religious calendar, holidays, and life situation. Its observance was mainly overseen by older women, while younger generations gradually introduced new cuts, colours, and materials.

Traditional dress is more than a visual trace of the past. It reflects how people lived, what they considered important, and the rules that shaped their everyday lives. It was never fixed — it evolved together with people and their lives. These subtle shifts and details form the starting point of this project, created in collaboration with the Centre for Traditional Culture in Myjava. The result is a series of contemporary portraits of traditional dress, seen not as costume, but as a natural part of life.

While photographing, I aimed for calm portraits, without posing or explanation. My intention was not to reconstruct the past or document rules. I wanted the traditional dress to stop functioning as a backdrop and once again become a natural part of the image — just as it was once a natural part of everyday life.