Helin Bereket, photographer from Berlin, is one of the ambassadors of the #veränderedeinePerspektive photo contest for Huawei, hosted by photographer Michael Schulz aka @berlinstagram, the design blog Ignant and our very own Anika’s photography project This Ain’t Art School. We talked to Helin about her series Fragmented which has been made for this contest.

#veränderedeinePerspektive, change your perspective – what does this mean, regarding your series?

The moment I saw the topic „change your perspective“ I knew that that was the very first thing I had to do – change my own perspective by shooting something that I normally wouldn’t. Usually, my photos consist of spontaneous, natural moments that I stumble upon. This time, I decided to plan the series, choose a location and use a model. This was the first step. The second step was changing the perspective contextually.

Woman, grass, mirror. Why this combination?

In contrast to beautiful women in beautiful places that we are used to seeing everywhere, I used an unadorned, naked woman in an ordinary place that would not necessarily be considered beautiful. It was important to me that, despite the nudity, there is nothing attractive in the photos. The mirror contributes to my effort to disassociate the naked body from attractiveness by fragmenting it. It has given the series an uncanny feeling. The mirror also represents that the truth is often much different to what we actually perceive. Because it usually reveals, but can also distort and hide the object of perception. The mirror as an element of the composition also directs the attention away from the model towards the surrounding landscape, the context in which she is situated. It becomes a tool for changing the perspective which leads us back to the theme.

Who are the photographers that inspire your work?

There are many photographers and artists that inspire me, but for this particular series, Fragmented (2016), the Chinese photographer Ren Hang who often works with human bodies inspired me a lot.

Head over to Helin Bereket’s Instagram account.