DOLLS
Returning to Greece after a long absence in London and Berlin, I found myself searching for a place I could recognize, and through which I might recognize myself again. By chance, that place was Dolls Club. Created by Marilou and infused with the spirit of Berlin’s 1980s and 1990s, it made my return feel unexpectedly seamless.
I first entered during a rehearsal and soon devoted the weekends of 2012–2013 to photographing the performers. A world opened before me: glitter, scent, colour, ritual, anticipation. Gradually, trust gave me access to the backstage, that intimate inner space where bodies, gestures, and identities were composed before the next diva stepped into the light.
As our familiarity deepened, my presence faded. I was forgotten. I became invisible. That was when the photographs truly began. The camera no longer interrupted; the shutter went unheard. What emerged was not the spectacle of performance, but the fragile, radiant space where transformation becomes presence.