Everything changes.

Yana Northen • 10 June 2025

Everything changes.
Sometimes, change doesn’t come through events but through the way we see the world. This is a story about how a solitary tree became a mirror of inner movement.

 I arrived in Germany earlier than planned.
My former husband had passed away, and my daughter flew to his funeral.
During the day, I kept myself busy. But in the evenings, I would quietly sit in the garden.
Spring was already in full bloom, and everything around me was fragrant with life.
My attention was drawn to a bare tree — one that didn’t seem to belong in this lush landscape.
I don’t know why, but I began photographing it every day.
It became something more than just a tree.
Perhaps a reminder.
Perhaps an answer to a question.
That everything changes.
Absolutely everything.
Mood. Light. Weather.
Our state of mind.
We change — with age, with experience, with loss.
Relationships shift.
Our perception of life transforms.
And that’s what life is:
A constant flow.
A never-ending “now” that soon becomes “yesterday.”
Sometimes, it feels like nothing is happening — like you’re standing still.
But that’s not true.
Movement is always happening, even when you can’t see it.
Sometimes, the only thing you need —
is simply to be.


Mixed media photo: a flower from the garden placed on a self-portrait to evoke inner state.
by Yana Northen 19 July 2025
Exploring how flowers, emotions, and images intersect — one layer of reality over another.
Red poppy petals scattered on a surface, echoing Demeter’s sorrow and the fragility of form and self
by Yana Northen 30 June 2025
Planting poppies in my garden was my unconscious way of mourning my husband—only recently did I understand their deep, symbolic meaning.
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.
Sometimes a fork looks like a mountain.
And a vase — like a monument.
But really, it’s just a fork.
by Yana Northen 8 April 2025
A visual reflection on how ordinary objects reveal our emotions and thoughts — a photo collage made over one week.