Nothing but a Curtain

Photography Book

A project exploring gender identity, womanhood, and queerness across Central and Eastern Europe. The work examines how personal narratives, cultural expectations, and political histories intersect in a region shaped by the legacy of the former Iron Curtain.

The project is the result of several years of research and preparation, culminating in a labour-intensive 100-day journey along the former border of the Eastern Bloc. In 2021, I travelled 4,552 miles (7,325.8 km) through 20 cities in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria to document how younger generations experience the ongoing legacy of communism. Focusing on women, non-binary, genderfluid, and transgender people born during or shortly after the Soviet era, the project examines the personal, social, and political impacts of the region’s rapid geopolitical transformation. The photographs were made on a Soviet-made Kiev 80 camera, whose mechanical “curtain” becomes a metaphor for the region’s past—an ever-present layer filtering how identity is formed and expressed today. Originally released as two zines in 2023 and 2024, the expanded book edition was published in 2025 and includes previously unseen photographs, and also includes a foreword by Gem Fletcher.

FIRST EDITION 200 x 140mm portrait
52 pages
44 photographs
Double sided leporello book
Design by Zula Rabikowska
With support from Emma Singleton
Printed by Identity Print

Price £40*

To reserve a copy of the limited edition folio please get in touch.

Nothing but a Curtain project was supported by Getty Images, University of the Arts London, and Kuala Lumpur International Photo Awards, and the making of the book was made possible with the help of grants from the Centre for British Photography and Kingston University Research Fund.

* Postage is available worldwide, but please delivery charges not included.