Inspired by Eurṓpē, a well-known figure from Greek mythology, the Regensburg-born, Berlin-based photographer Stephanie Braun created a five-part series of images for the exhibition 'Shades of Europe', which deals with the legendary baptism of the European continent. At the same time, the young artist's work explores the value compass of European politics in recent years and forges a link to the here and now. Virtues such as empathy and care have repeatedly posed new challenges to European domestic and foreign policy in the past, ultimately leading to an identity crisis within the construct itself. Stephanie Braun examines these personality traits in her work, starting with the origin of the word 'Europe'. According to the myth, the well-known father of the gods Zeus fell so deeply in love with a young woman named Eurṓpē, a daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor and Telephassa, that he carried her off to an unknown place against her will and with the help of a suspicious spell of deception. This area was later named after the beautiful Eurṓpē.
In her work, Stephanie Braun breaks with Zeus' clearly patriarchal view of the young woman's body. The two models photographed in the studio and their bodies drenched in golden glitter reject all potential for seduction and resolutely refuse to become a projection surface for the inner longings and desires of the male gaze. Instead, the way the fragmentary bodies are staged creates a heroic-looking sculptural quality that appears idealistic, almost supernatural, and thus pleads for self-assertion. It is less about the women's identities and more about their connection. Viewers can search for commonalities and precisely this connection and make their own reflections on what the women stand for together in the photographs. The aesthetic bracket, the stringently used blue background and the golden bodies, ultimately provide information and, in their reduction, are reminiscent of the blue European flag with its twelve golden stars. The key metaphorical image of the work is the photograph of the golden crocus flower, which also appears in the European myth and, in the language of flowers, stands for passion, love and eternal youth.
Material: Glitter (gold), white long hair wigs (no real hair), dark blue background roll, white crocus
Title of the work: Eurṓpē
Exhibition: February 2024 in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany