The World of Women – The Book and the Blog, and the Story Behind Them
- A könyvről
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 9 hours ago
When she walked out of the studio, I already knew that something impossible to put into words had happened inside her.
Perhaps the change came in the second she saw the photograph we had made.
She saw herself as beautiful, even though for the previous four years — since she felt cancer had taken away her femininity — she had not dared to look at herself in the mirror.
“This is a miracle,” she said softly while wiping tears from her face.
In that moment she was completely and honestly herself.
She did not care what I might think about seeing her cry.
She was not trying to meet any expectation.
For those few moments she simply felt free.
Free.
Beautiful.
Sexy.
Complete.
That was the first time I experienced such a transformation from close range.
During later shoots, I saw it happen again and again.
I became increasingly aware of a simple but rarely spoken truth:
Women can change completely more than once during a lifetime.
They transform.
They rebuild themselves.
They are reborn.
It feels almost symbolic that years earlier I had named that first project Awakening – A New Beginning.
After the photography exhibition was completed and a book was created from the women's stories, I realised that there was much more happening than a sequence of coincidences.
The book
Around half a year later, I could see more clearly that a sudden crisis is often what triggers the most radical change in a woman's life.
It may come from an unexpected negative trauma or a powerful positive experience.
But there is another kind of change we rarely hear about:
The beautiful, everyday transformations and new beginnings that belong naturally to different stages of life.
At first, I imagined telling these stories only through photographs and portraits.
But when I began talking about the idea, several people encouraged me to consider turning it into my next book.
“Come on. Who would read a book like this today?” I kept asking myself.
Still, I started.
Together with editor Éva Lénárt, I imagined a beautiful illustrated book full of questions — questions many men would like to ask women if we were brave enough, and questions women might ask one another — followed by honest answers.
The result became a special photo-book.
Like the women inside it:
Beautiful, distinctive and genuinely valuable.
The book became another milestone in my own life too.
I divided a woman's life journey into nine natural phases — from young girl to great-grandmother.
I selected nine women, each standing at an important threshold of one of those phases.
My aim was to create a kind of time capsule that could hold up a mirror equally to every generation.
These heroines live among us.
Their faces and personalities were shaped by joy, disappointment, love and pain.
Yet most of the time, we see only the surface of one another.
One of the most exciting parts of the work was that the models and I created the content together.
Through 9 × 9 photographs, they describe — from different phases of life and different perspectives — what being a Woman means to them.
My goal was to show both men and women, in a simple and accessible form and through real people of flesh and blood, that there is nothing strange about a woman suddenly seeing and experiencing the world differently from one day to the next.
Women often wish men would change.
Men often wish women never would.
Let's admit it:
Reality is usually the other way around.
The blog
Why did the blog begin?
Because I felt that The World of Women, scheduled for publication in May, and the photography exhibition planned for September could present nine real examples of nine natural stages of change in women's lives.
But they could not show all the transformations created by ordinary day-to-day situations.
I could only approach the subject honestly if I created an open platform that could keep expanding and include these stories too.
That became the blog — an ongoing extension of the book.
Even I was surprised by how many women contacted me and honoured me with their trust and their stories.
By then, the book already felt complete.
Editing and print preparation were underway.
Still, I felt sad that I no longer had a place for someone who wanted to open up within the ordinary grey routine of everyday life.
Someone who wanted to share something important.
Or perhaps simply show the beauty, pain, passion, dilemmas and decisions they carried inside.
Most people are afraid to show themselves without a mask.
What will the world say?
As an artist, I experience the same fear repeatedly.
Will people like what I create?
Will they understand me — or misunderstand me?
I know there is no perfect work that everybody will love.
This book will not be loved by everyone either.
There will be criticism.
But I believe we should live in a way that allows our dreams to become bigger than our fears.
When opportunity knocks, we should take it.
We may not receive a second chance.
Every one of my models is a courageous woman.
Each of them looks deep into her own soul and, aware of her vulnerability, dares to give more of herself.
They are not simply survivors.
They truly live.
And in doing so, they help one another.
That is why this blog exists:
So anyone can honestly — even anonymously — share the story of a period in their life when, almost overnight, a new and stronger Woman began looking back from the mirror.
Because stories like these can give strength to others too.
What I can offer is respect, admiration, attention, and — with the tools available to me — a safe possibility for people to release what is pressing inside them and wants to be seen.
Often they cannot tell these things to anyone.
Here, they can tell everyone freely what CHANGE took place in their lives and in their inner world.
My plan is to publish new stories every second day — Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday — for as long as there are stories to publish.
Anyone who feels like writing is welcome to do so, even if they send only a fragment.
We will contact every contributor.
I also created a writers' and readers' group on Facebook where every new blog article is shared and people can exchange ideas.
Secretly, I hope these portraits will help not only women, but men as well, in understanding women — both through the blog and the book that will soon be published.
The foreword to the book was written by Miklós Vámos, and we are deeply grateful for his contribution.
A well-designed portrait session aims to create genuine, confident presence in the final photograph.
Part of the BANHALMI ecosystem
For the professional context and practical side of portrait photography, visit the BANHALMI professional website. Related art series, books and exhibitions are preserved in the BANHALMI ART archive.