How did you become a photographer? Would you define yourself as a one?

My eye has been shaped by vernacular photography – especially legal and medical subject matter. I’m an artist who takes photographs.

What drives you as a photographer?

My work is about sharing images, that’s how I see it. What drives me is encouraging people to stand back and see things differently, even if this sometimes means having to rethink painful memories.

Do you think there is such a thing as a ‘woman’s gaze’ in photography? Is this something you can relate to?

Do men get asked about their “man’s eye”? Never, it seems to me. Why should our gender take precedence over the way we are shaped culturally, socially, within the family or politically? Being a woman is only one aspect of my identity along with many others.

Has being a woman influenced your work as an artist in any way?

I would say that I became aware quite early on that I would have to be more stubborn and defiant because of my gender.

Do you live off your art?

I’ve been living off my work for a number of years now, and I also teach in art school.

Which authors have inspired you? Are there any women photographers among them?

There are so many. Hans-Peter Feldmann helped to free me in the way I take photographs; with the work of Claude Cahun, writing wound itself naturally into in my work; and Susan Sontag shaped my ethical approach to images. And then there are all those photographers from my generation who created something new: Constance Nouvel, Marina Gadonneix, Aurélie Pétrel, Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza, Emmanuelle Fructus, Barbara Breitenfellner, Alexandra Leykauf, Clare Strand and so many more.