The International Women in Photo Awards: Natalia Garbu: Moldova Lookbook
This week Lenscratch is featuring the work of the 2023 winners of the The International Women in Photo Association (IWPA), a French non profit aiming to create global change and reach gender equality and women empowerment, awards prizes to visual storytellers from around the world.
Today is Natalia Garbu, a photographer from Moldovia, whose series Moldova Lookbook, received an Emerging Finalist Award. Natalia Garbu gives us an insider look into a small country’s multi-dimensionality, the old and the new, the formal and informal.
Instagram: @IWPA_photo/
Natalia Garbu was born in Straseni, Republic of Modova (ex Moldovan Soviet Republic. She studied in this city until she was 14 and then studied foreign languages in Chicinau.
Interested in Journalism and Arts, Garbu planned to go and study further. Because the 90s were quite a harsh period in her country, her father recommended that she not go into arts — cause she would die of hunger — and not into journalism — because “a good journalist in this country is a dead journalist.” She decided to choose economics and after she finished the studies, Garbu decided to go to study photography.
Instagam: @nataliagarbu
Instagram: @moldova.lookbook
Moldova Lookbook
Moldova is a nation facing a complex array of challenges and influences. Its patriarchal tendencies, economic struggles, Orthodox traditions, and historical ties to colonialism have shaped its society in unique ways. However, Moldova is also a place of resilience and cultural richness, with a diverse population that continues to seek its place on the global stage. Understanding these complexities is essential for both Moldovans and the international community, as it fosters empathy and offers insights into the ongoing evolution of this small yet significant Eastern European nation. « Moldova.Lookbook » is a big project I have been creating for 15 years, to create a national visual code of my country that would help in the matter of country identity and that would answer the question “who am I?”
Posts on Lenscratch may not be reproduced without the permission of the Lenscratch staff and the photographer.
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