Identity is a secondary thing

“And then there is this crucial, terrifying moment, which is not even a moment, but more of a process, when you start to realize that your share of innocence is soon to be gone. And now, this is the world that looks at you. You need to create yourself from the scratch” – wrote Julia, 19 years old.

Identity is a secondary thing is a documentary project about young people from Rzeszow, the town in south-eastern part of Poland. I had been accompanying this group for 2 years. It was not an easy task to become accepted, but, step by step, I gained their trust. As young people do, they spent time together talking, seeking inspirations, experimenting with an external appearance and sexual preferences. Sometimes they were full of joy. Sometimes, under the superficial colors and bravado, I could find deep layers of vulnerability, fear, loneliness and suffering of lacking acceptation and support. They tried to compensate these feelings creating strong bonds inside the group, which had given them the opportunity to innocent hug, but also to look for first sexual relations, not necessarily heterosexual.

After several months they gave me the permission to portrait them. In the conservative town these young people clearly were crossing social boundaries, either in teacher or parent’s eyes.

How much freedom do young people have? Do we try to make easier their step into adulthood? Does an identity have to be the subject of political discussion? I ask these questions every day.

Julia – she is my daughter.

Anna Hartman-Ksycińska is a Polish photographer based in Rzeszow, Poland. She is a medical doctor, pediatrician and anesthesiologist and a member of Polish Women Photographers Club. In 2022 she published the photobook Identity is a secondary thing which received several awards, including the Bronze Prize on Tokyo International Photoawards 2022, the Silver Prize on PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris 2023, the 3rd Prize on IPA 2023 and others.