HRISTOVA, Pepa - Sworn Virgins

Background information

"In northern Albania, the 'Sworn Virgins' - the last man-women of Europe - still live today. A collection of laws passed down orally from the Middle Ages allows families that have lost their male head - not infrequently through blood revenge - to appoint a woman from the family as their deputy. The prerequisite, however, is that she takes an irrevocable vow: She must swear to preserve her virginity forever. These so-called vow virgins are respected in the families and are given the status of men. They perform men's work, dress and behave like men, but they are not men in a sexual sense, but in a social and societal sense.  The 'Sworn Virgins' fill their roles so perfectly that over time they are no longer recognized as women outside the family." (Publisher's text, © Kehrer Verlag, 2013)

About Bulgarian photographer Pepa HRISTOVA (b.1977)

Pepa HRISTOVA lives in Hamburg, Germany. She studied communication design with a focus on photography at the University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg.  Among other awards, she received the Otto Steinert Prize and the C/O Berlin Talents Prize. Her work has been exhibited at the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, C/O Berlin and the Akademie der Künste Berlin, among others. She is a member of the Ostkreuz agency.

Photo books by Pepa HRISTOVA