In April of 2019, I met Eva from Rotterdam (now 20 years old) when I photographed a group of gabbers. Eva is one of them and immediately catches my eye. She has something about her that is rough and vulnerable at the same time.
From that moment on, I photograph Eva more often, mostly in her home, an apartment in the Schiebroek neighborhood of Rotterdam. I get to know a young woman who wears her heart on her sleeve and who is trying to find her way through life by trial and error. A smart young woman, who starts high school on a high level, but who quits school because she cannot find her place in a system in which she feels she is just a number. I sometimes ask her what she would like to do in life. She does not know.
When I’m with Eva, it seems like time has stood still. Generally, little will have changed in her life compared to the previous times we saw each other. That bubble, in which little happens, is her day-to-day reality. She can’t quite escape it, and perhaps she also doesn’t want to for now.
I once asked Eva why she allows me in, why I am allowed to see everything. “Because I trust you and because you see me.” But also: “Because you provide me with a podium.”
Eva wants to be seen, I want to show her.
