What does it mean to be a woman?
How does it feel to be a woman?
What does femininity mean? 

Through her photographs, Lina Czerny tries to answer these questions, and when she cannot, she only tries to accustom the viewer to the beauty of the female body, free from any kind of instrumentalization or objectification. 

Lina Czerny is a young 28-year-old photographer who, after studying Arts & Culture in Berlin and Amsterdam, now lives and works in Cologne. Interested in feminist issues that are increasingly at the centre of social debate, she uses photography to address this issue. 

Lina has been photographing for a long time, but her interest in the role of women and society’s perception of them is particularly evident in her latest photographic series entitled “Paradox of Womanhood“. 

“Paradox of Womanhood” is a collection of analogue shots that celebrate the female body in all its beauty and naturalness. By stripping off their clothes, it seems that the protagonists of the photographs have also freed themselves from the weight of comments, judgments, glances and misplaced sentences. 

While the world will say that a woman is too thin or too fat, too tall or too short, too shy or too outgoing, too low-cut or too covered up, Lina Czerny wants to remind all women to be happy and proud to be exactly as they are. 

A soft glimpse of what womanhood means to me – 
Being powerful, yet beautiful no matter what society expects. 
Being powerful, yet vulnerable and fragile.
Being powerful, yet feminine. 

Below is a selection of photographs from ‘Paradox of Womanhood’, but if you don’t want to miss Lina Czerny’s next work, follow her on Instagram.