“Maria’s photography engages in a dynamic dialogue with queer visual culture, foregrounding lesbian visibility. Her work immortalizes her subjects within a collective queer memory and contributes to a politics of the gaze, challenging us to reconsider notions of perception, power, memory, and representation. Her photographs serve as acts of resistance against erasure, capturing moments that might otherwise fade into oblivion. They form a visual archive of a community’s struggle for recognition, documenting not only the external appearance of her subjects but also musings of their inner worlds.

Her portraits showcase the wide range of queer existence, from quiet moments of introspection to loud, defiant celebrations. They are not mere images; they are historical documents that capture the essence of a time, a place, and a movement.”

Text: Klara Tsoumpleka