“To leave one world behind and to go into an unknown one defined who I am today.
“I grew up in a small town in the south of the Czech Republic, as the youngest of three daughters. Looking back, the life there was very slow, centred around nature and the dynamic of our farm and everything felt very familiar, almost repetitive. I remember having strong indefinable cravings when wandering the streets of my little town, longing for something ‘new’. Something else. Something challenging. Something that would rip me out of the routine that felt so suffocating.
“So I transgressed.
“When I turned 18, I left my town to attend university to become a painter in a bigger town not so far from my hometown. It brought a change in my life and I felt alive. Yet, when I graduated six years later with a Master’s degree, I could not feel more broken and discouraged to pursue art as a career. The mentorship during my studies was extremely sexist and favoured my male peers to the point that I gave up on my painting.
“So I transgressed.
“I left behind everything that was familiar and stepped into the utterly unknown and uncertain. I left to the United States. I was not sure what I was doing, where I was going, or what I wanted to achieve. I felt lost inside. That mirrored how lost I was in the real world, a new culture, a new landscape, a very different world.
“I left behind the peer pressure of getting married, having kids, building a house, and my own stale idea of who I should be. And that decision has nurtured my inner curiosity ever since. The frequent encounters of new places and people breathed life into my being.
“I transgressed.
“I started to chase different dreams. Dreams that were much closer to my heart. I picked up a camera and started to photograph myself and others. It became my passion and the camera represented the perfect way to meet people and connect. It allowed me to reach out to strangers, listen to their stories, and to spark precious friendships.
“The photograph of Kate and Odie, taken in the pink bathroom of their Brooklyn apartment the first time we met, marks a very special moment for me. I had never met them before our shoot, yet an hour into it, we were laughing and sharing something amazing together. I managed to establish a new home, a new circle of friends, a new family — a new world here in NYC.
“I transgressed to find myself.”
marietomanova.com / @marietomanova