Anna’s tragedy of being torn between social prestige and burning passion draws an unforgiving portrait of society, still relevant today. Each character depicted in this project plays a significant part in setting Anna’s dramatic fate. The title is drawn from Anna’s last fateful monologue.

 

Each portrait is carefully composed, capturing the complexity of the characters. In the final outcome, gestures can be read as frozen moments in time, which point to a past and a future. I use a large format camera, a slow and deliberate medium that mirrors my intense search for perfection and aligns with the novel's tensions between tradition and progress.

 

Accompanying these portraits are landscape photographs taken at different locations around the world. Going through my archives, I associate images with the emotional and psychological undercurrents of Tolstoy’s narrative. The written quotes directly relate to these associations.

 

Over more than a decade, this project has evolved as my relationship with Anna Karenina deepened. Time and again, I return to its pages, each time being drawn to its mastery. Tolstoy’s writing uncovers the essence of what it means to be human. While so much of our world changes, something remains the same: The inner workings of our minds and feelings. It is the unique power of art to visualise the invisible and reveal the interconnected nature of humankind.