Photographer Zula Rabikowska spent 100 days travelling through central and eastern Europe documenting womanhood and gender identity – with a Soviet-era analogue camera that leaves behind a ‘curtain of light’ in the images, echoing the influence of Soviet history
To this day, coming of age in central and eastern Europe means encountering political systems where male dominance is prevalent, enduring sexist stereotypes, contending with stringent beauty norms, and navigating religious expectations. Zula Rabikowska’s Nothing But a Curtain documentary project explores womanhood and gender identity in these regions.
Fragments of the Berlin Wall covered in graffiti in Berlin, Germany.
The Berlin Wall, a structure that stood from 1961 to 1989, became an emblematic representation of the iron curtain. This metaphorical division characterised the ideological split between eastern and western Europe during the cold war. The title of the project, Nothing but a Curtain, alludes to the enduring, tangible division between east and west.
Livia, an archery professional, preparing to shoot her bow and arrow on her farm in Ásotthalom, Hungary. Right: revolver target practice at a farm in Ásotthalom, Hungary, which is regularly used by Livia and her husband.
The motivation behind this project was very personal. As a Polish immigrant in London, Rabikowska became disheartened by the stereotypical representations of eastern Europe in English-speaking media. These depictions, which consistently featured elements such as babushka hats, snow, communist-era architecture, impoverished scenery and rural environments, fuelled Rabikowska’s determination to show contemporary central and eastern Europe from a different perspective.
Kimi and Gigi sit on the flor of Sofia metro station in Bulgaria. Danuta, a local LGBTQI+ activist, in the Vērmane Garden, Riga, Latvia.
Rabikowska completed this project with a Kiev 80 analogue format camera, a product of a military factory in Kiev dating back to 1978. The camera’s metal shutter leaves behind a “curtain” of light in the images, symbolically echoing how Soviet history has influenced and moulded gender identity and womanhood in post-communist Europe.
Norvina, a transgender woman and performer smokes a cigarette in Bucharest, Romania. The hands of Gabi in Bucharest, Romania.
Gosia sits in a cafe in the Gdańsk shipyard, Poland, with an upside-down cross visible above her ankle. Gosia rejected religion and chose this tattoo as a symbol.
Rabikowska collaborated with individuals who, like her, were born in or after 1989, after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, when socialism in these countries came to an end. Despite more than three decades having passed since the end of communism, the regions once behind the former wall are still frequently reduced to a homogeneous and unrecognisable mass.
Magda, a veterinary and music rapper, walks her dog in the Gdansk shipyard, Poland.
The aim of this project was to challenge these recurring stereotypes, which have become more significant in light of the war in Ukraine, and the resurgence of nationalist, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and militaristic ideologies – which have not only resurfaced within the former eastern bloc but also on a global scale.
Natasha sits on the grass with flowers in her hand opposite Mauer Park in Berlin, Germany. Mauerpark is a public park in Berlin and name translates to Wall Park, referring to its status as a former part of the Berlin Wall and its Death Strip.
Kimga sits on the floor of their dance studio before a rehearsal in Budapest, Hungary. Right: Jekaterina sits on a stone in Narva, an Estonian town that borders Russia.
In preparation for this project, Rabikowska moved back to live in Kraków, Poland in 2020, reversing the migration journey her family did in 2001 when they left Poland to live in the UK.
“I wanted to fully immerse myself in the contemporary environment I would be photographing,” she says.
After a year and half of research, preparation and funding applications, in 2021 Rabikowska travelled for more than 5,000 miles using public transport along the former iron curtain border. She visited 20 cities across Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, and interviewed and photographed 104 people about their experience.
In the project Rabikowska focused on capturing the stories of women and non-binary, gender fluid and transgender people.
“Apart from it being really labour-intensive, there were some unexpected parts of the execution of this project that really challenged me. As I was travelling from city to city on my own with a lot of equipment, strangers in restaurants, hotels or bus stops would frequently ask me questions which felt to be undermining of my role as a documentary photographer: “Where is your husband?”, “Why are you not at home with your children?”, “Why are you travelling alone?”
Rabikowska shares her personal frustration about the tangible sexism she had to face during the project: “I was travelling in 2021, just after the Covid passport was introduced; many of the bus or train routes were cancelled or only operated once a week, so if I missed a bus or a train this would have heavily impacted my timeline. Most of the project was carried out smoothly; I had a few challenges to face, such as a national rail strike in Germany or a twisted wrist in the Czech Republic, but the biggest obstacle was the constant worrying about my personal safety, people perceiving me as a solo woman therefore an easy target in many eyes.”
Agata, a professional dancer, dances on her own in Vilnius old town in Lithuania.
Ester and Lucia, journalism students, stand near a staircase in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Kornelia, who was refused acceptance to the Lithuanian military because of her tattoos, sits on a bench in Klaipeda, Lithuania. Kornelia’s official medical report stated she should abandon her military career, and instead get married and look after children at home.
“Often people in these regions don’t want to be from eastern Europe,” Rabikowska adds. “Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia prefer to be ‘Baltic’, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungry see themselves as ‘central Europe’ and Bulgaria and Romania highlight their Balkan identity. One of the participants shared with me that eastern Europe is not a geographical location but rather a period in time, or an ideology – which is at the crux of the Nothing But a Curtain project.”
Sunset on Gdańsk beach, Poland
The project will be exhibited at the Four Corners Gallery London 10-14 October, with the private view on Thursday 12 October between 6pm and 9pm.
Nothing But a Curtain has been made possible with the help of the Mead Fellowship, supported by Scott Mead and the Mead Family Foundation, Getty Images and Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards.
