Photo project

Anna Ehrenstein: Tales of Lipstick and Virtue

Olga Osipova April, 24 2017

Bird In Flight continues to introduce the works of the participants of Riga Photomonth 2017 photography festival, which will take place in Riga between May 10 and May 31. Today, we present a project by German artist Anna Ehrenstein, who blurs the line between truth and fiction and asks the question whether a woman needs her sexuality.

Anna Ehrenstein Age 23

Artist based in Germany with Albanian heritage. She studied photography at the University of Applied Science in Dortmund and is living and working in Berlin.

Website

— Tales of Lipstick and Virtue deals with the crossroads of gender, class, ethnicity, and their
interconnection to self-representation as well as postcolonialism, authenticity, and pseudo-luxury.

The work consists of portraits in Albania and figurative fake-stills of brand imitations and the counterfeit luxury out of the studio. Using methods of documentary, fashion, and advertising photography, it blurs the thin line between original and bootleg, truth and fiction, genuine and counterfeit.

The question if, especially in the post-communist context of Albania, visual and sexual self-determination as well as femininity are empowering young women globally, is playing a key role. Intersections of class and aesthetics and their (non-)eurocentric backgrounds are examined with a playful use of saccharine color, stylization, and humor.