Mihaela Noroc: Atlas of Female Power
Mihaela Noroc has spent the last 12 years portraying women ananimin more than 100 countries. Throughisof candid portraits and firsthand accounts, it shows that beauty lies in authenticity and its power in diversity.
Mihaela Norowas was in Leh, the capital of federal federal of Ladakh, in India, when he was asked to photograph a girl. He said yes – after all, that’s what he’s been doing for over ais. She usually chooses the faces she photographs, guided by an impression, a detail, an energy. “‘Maybe,’ she says, “ititI’ll end up being the chosen one.” The young woman’s name was Insha and made a request of him: “You have to come with me to my special place.” She took her to a Buddhist monastery, high above the city. It was late in the day, and dark. Mihaela hesitated – warned that the photo might not turn out, due to the lack of light. But she went. It was worth it Hasselblad she was working with: a camera that allowed her to capture the portrait of the young Muslim woman in her traditional dress. “There, traditional clothing is part of everyday life. It’s an extension of the lifestyle. That’s why she was the one who directed the photo.” Insha hesitated; tthen she smiled. Mihaela didn’t just end up with another image for the enormous visual notebook she has been building; she found in it the cover of her second book, The Atlas of Beauty: The Power of Women.
It was a coincidence, like so many others that defined the outfitttofof photographyó, born in Bucharest 40 years ago. For the past 12 years, she has traveled the world search of female faces,ordinary women on the streets of Milan and Jeddah, on the banks of the Amazon, on the roads of Ethi,, in the parks of Bucharest, or in the mountains of Pakistan. He portrays them as they are: withéus, in tribal clothing, with scars, wearing makeup or au naturel. What are you looking for is authenticity. “Beauty has no standard. And I know how much that word— beauty— influences women’s lives. I use it very carefully.”
His journey began with some hesitation. He studiedphotography, but became disillusioned with the saturated market and left the field. It was in 2012, on a trip to Ethiopiathat everything changed: the encounter with a countryof enormous diversity— from conservative Islam to Coptic Christianity, through tribal cultures – has rekindled his fascination with faces and historyof. “I grew up in Eastern Europe.Even though it was a region with many ethnic groups, all the women looked very much like me. Diversity in Ethiopia, to me, it was mind-blowing.”
That’s where it all began and where The Atlas of Beautywas born. With a backpack, a camera, and a clear vision: to show that beauty exists everywhere— and is not limited to the narrow standards of the fashion or film industries. Since then, Mihaela has traveled to over 100 countries, photographing women she almost always encounters by chance—on the streets, at bus stops, and in local markets.
“Sometimessometimes, I go hours without speaking to anyoneat. Other times, I talk to the first woman I come across. Sometimestimes I hear a ‘noo’ – is part of it. And I know this project couldn’t have been done by a man. I’m certain of that. It could have been a good photography project. But it wouldn’t have been the same project,” she assures us.
The portraits are candid, without much posing or staging. Women with vitiligo, alopeciaandalopecia, protheses, wheelchairs. Mothers holding their children, professionals in uniform, women enjoying their leisure time. All arebeautiful— beauty lies in the expression, the context, the dignity.
Mihaela Noroc says there were many things she didn’t know when she started. “I often say that it was this project that taught me how to do it and how to develop it.”
The first book, The Atlas of Beauty, took five years to come to fruition and was published in 2017. Seven years later, he published the second volume. The changein of ttitletitle – of AAtlas of Bbeauty to Power of Women– – not just just editorial, rreflects a transformation in the way Mihaela. The new book continues to feature women in various settings, but now with more space for words, for personal accounts, for the raw truth.
“For a long time, I sought beauty as a counterpoint to stereotypesstereotypes. Today, I seek alsothestrength, resilienceresilience, and diversity. I used to believe that a picture was worth more than 1,000 words. Today I think that an image alone isn’tenough— you have to know the historyof, the context.”
And which is, after all, the power of women? It is measured in actions: in the woman who raises her children alone, in another who studies at night after work, in yet another who built a negbusinesswith the prownown . They are figures anl, but Mihaela rejects the word “common” as synonymfor for banal. It is precisely in these non-thatthat he finds the greatness he wishes to reveal. “I think nocanunderstand my project if they look at a photograph on its own. Theyto be juxtaposed,side by side. It is the diversity, the mosaic, the resthatthat demonstrate the power of women.”
This understanding deepened when it became common. Jhad already photographed hundreds of mothers— some with children in their arms, others who had lost them, others who were caring for their sisters’ or neighbors’ children. But living the experience firsthand changed her understandingof. “Now that I’m a mother, I look at these women with a different kind of empathy. I understand what they bring with them— and I understand what they don’t say,” concludes Mihaela.
She has photographed female farmers in Nepal, female taxi drivers in Mexico, Syrian refugees, street performers in Istanbul, nuns in Peru, and teenage mothers in the Philippines. Each face is a world unto itself,every gaze carries within it a historyory. Some photos areharsh— such as the portrait of Marzieh, the Iranian woman whose face was burned by an acid attack and who asked for her photo to be published after Mihaela had published her first book; Marzieh wanted to give a face—and her example—to thethe petipetitions that emerged calling for an end to the over-the-counter sale of that type of acid. Otherare illuminating— such as the photograph of Wirginia, an 86-year-old Polish woman who survived World War II, dedicated her life to caring for children, and, after retiring and becoming a widow, became a DJ. Others aresurprising—such as the histstoryof Tsaring Tuomo, a from, from a tribe living in the Himalayasand still practices polyandry: is possiblefor for a woman to have two, three, or four husbands. And Tsaring is married to two men, whoare brothers.
What if Mihaela Noroc were one of the women portrayed in the prpbook, book, what words would accompany her portrait? “Which is a curious woman, who asks questions, who observes her surroundings. Who is a normal person, who has many insecurities. But if my main power is curiosity, I have another good power that I try, alsopasspass on to my daughter: it important to embrace fear.”
When her daughter Natalia was born, Mihaela spent over a year traveling the world with her babyis in her arms. She had to return to Romeénia, let her grow up. She plans to hit the road with her. “I’d liketo for that, when she grew up, she would find a world without borders, without passports, without wars. That is a utopia. But to expect her to be confident, to recognizethatnot is perfect— and that this is good, because why not have necessary to be perfect – tooitenough is a good legacy. And I think she already knows that.”
While Natalia grows up, Mihaela intends to take on her mission: “To keep shining a light on these women. To walk the streets, to stay humble, to keep asking for that photo, to keep to connect withthese women. That is my mission. NI see any other.”
And travel the world telling storiesstoriesstories of women already seems to be a quitequite a mission. “Actually, it’s quite missionthe incred.. But do you know what my name means? Noroc means luck in Romanian. I’m a lucky.”
