What We See Is a Reflection of What We Feel.

Yana Northen • 8 April 2025

Sometimes a fork looks like a mountain.
And a vase — like a monument.
But really, it’s just a fork. Just a vase.

I take photos every day — often of ordinary, almost invisible things that surround me. At the end of the week, I looked back at everything I had captured and gathered those images into a collage.

And only then did I realize: this wasn't just a collection of objects.
It was a reflection of my inner state.

Our photographs often show more than we realize.
They reveal where our attention goes, what draws us in, what worries us, what we think about, and what we search for.

Sometimes a simple object — under a certain light — appears enormous.
In one photo, a fork looked gigantic just because of how the light fell on it.
And I thought: we often give things too much weight. But in truth, it’s simpler than that.
Our thoughts do the same — they magnify moments, ideas, fears.
Everything seems bigger than it really is. It’s human.

This collage helped me understand what had been truly on my mind last week.
It gave shape to a quiet feeling that had been living inside me.
And that brought clarity.

Lines in the photos flow into one another, just like our thoughts and emotions.
One leads to another. One experience blends into the next.
Nothing exists in isolation. Everything is connected — in life, in memory, in perception.

And maybe that’s what this work is really about:
To slow down.
To look more closely at what’s already here.
To learn to see — and to let go.
Let it pass. Let it flow.

A bare tree stands alone in a blooming spring garden — a quiet symbol of change and inner reflection
by Yana Northen 10 June 2025
A brief reflection on change, loss, and quiet presence. How one bare tree in a blooming garden became a reminder that everything passes, everything moves — and sometimes, the most important thing we can do is simply be.
Self-portrait of a woman seen in a mirror. Her posture is soft and introspective.
by Yana Northen 3 June 2025
A quiet morning. A small mirror. A body, remembered. In this letter-like reflection, I explore what happens when we pause long enough to truly meet ourselves. Through a series of movements — gaze, touch, presence — I reconnect with my body not as an object, but as a part of me that feels, remembers, and responds. This is a continuation of the project A Conversation with My Body — where photography and words become a form of healing, presence, and quiet truth.
A worn Soviet military belt, nostalgic atmosphere and a sense of memory and loss.
by Yana Northen 28 May 2025
A quiet meditation on memory, loss, and what remains of us when we’re gone. Through a daughter’s gesture and the few objects left behind — old photographs, a worn belt, and a watch — this story reflects on how life continues in traces, in light, in dust, in love remembered. Accompanied by a symbolic photograph capturing the intimacy of this moment.
What if your body could write you a letter?
by Yana Northen 15 May 2025
A deeply personal letter from the body to the self — an invitation to listen, feel, and reconnect. This message speaks about pain, silence, self-compassion, and the unbreakable bond between mind and body.