©Myrto Papadopoulos

Spirts Unseen

Myrto Papadopoulos

2017 – 2021 — Greece

About this series

“Spirits Unseen” is a multidisciplinary project that examines traditional gender roles of the Pomak Muslim minority in the region of Western Thrace. It explores the separation of men and women in a deeply patriarchal ethnic minority where couples marry young, and both sexes rely on each other to define their sense of identity.
Since 2017 photographer and filmmaker Myrto Papadopoulos has been regularly driving the 730 miles north from Athens to the isolated villages of the Pomak minority in the Greek region of Thrace. There, she has visually documented and engaged with the women left behind to manage households after their husbands emigrated to northern Europe in search of work. As the traditional structure and gender relations of the Pomak community are tested by these socioeconomic conditions, many of these women are seeking the right to work, study, and adopt new roles beyond the traditional confines of their society.

©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
Thrace, Greece 2017 Kezban 21, ready to jump off a tree in the Nestos river near the city of Xanthi. Kezban was raised in the western city of Xanthi and comes from the Pomak village of Dimario. She is the first girl in her family that has had the chance to be educated. It is important to keep in mind that until very recently, only a small part of the community had access to high school education and that up until the early 1990s, girls did not pursue their studies beyond primary school. Today Kezban attends the Kapodistrian University of Athens. ©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos
©Myrto Papadopoulos

Photographer: Myrto Papadopoulos
Nationality: Greek
Based in: Athens, Greece
Website: www.spiritsunseen.com
Instagram: @myrtophoto

Myrto Papadopoulos works on long-form narratives investigating Documentary Photography and the limits of the medium itself. Pushing the traditional boundaries she seeks to construct a new language with her visual narratives, experimenting with new tools and other media (cross media).
Papadopoulos was born in Greece and began her studies as a fine art student majoring in painting and photography. In 2006, she applied for a documentary photography degree at the ICP (International Centre of Photography) in New York where she was granted a scholarship.
She has been an IMEDD fellow for 2019 – 2020 supported by the Niarchos Foundation, has been nominated for the Prix Pictet and the Magnum Foundation grant.
From early on in her career, she has collaborated with major media international outlets and clients such as Smithsonian Magazine, Dior, National Geographic, TIME Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, among many others.

Selected solo and group exhibitions e.g.
Mois off De La Photo 2008 in Paris, PHOTOQUAI Museé Quai Branly 2009 in Paris, LOOK3 Between Festival 2010 in Virginia, DUMBO Arts Festival 2011 in NY,
Athens Photo Festival 2011 – Solo exhibition in Athens, Flash Forward Exhibition 2013 in Toronto & Washington DC, Lishui Photography Festival 2015 in China, Tositsa Foundation 2016 – Solo Exhibition in Athens, IDFA Doc Lab 2017 in Amsterdam,TBLISI Photo Festival 2018 in Tbilisi, PHotoESPAÑA 2019 – official section in Madrid, Athens Photo Festival 2019 official section in Athens, Athens Photo Festival 2020, curator of “The Journal Exhibition” at the Benaki museum.