Alexander Lukashenka has ruled Belarus for over 27 years. A generation has grown up that does not know its homeland without the authoritarian president. What does it mean to grow up under these circumstances? Due to the ongoing repression, there are fewer and fewer people who rebel and resist. Passive, disillusioned and helpless, they have to come to terms with the rules of the regime.

Julia Autz has captured this situation photographically in her portraits: “In my work I show young people striving for individuality, which is not desired in Belarus. People who are discriminated against because of their political stance, sexual orientation or simply because of a different way of thinking and living.”

Self-realization, as these pictures show, can only take place in private, if at all. Withdrawn into their own four walls, people try to conserve the freedom within. The pictures were taken in the time before the protests and show hope waiting for change.

Julia Autz.Born in 1988. Lives in Berlin. After her diploma in communication design at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, she studied photography in the Master of Arts at the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld. For “While I Was Waiting” she received the prestigious Vonovia Award

juliaautz.com
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