International Women's Day with Munich Photographers Mona & Jasmin

Munich based photographers Mona Shatry & Jasmin Breidenbach recently shared their exhibits ‘About Beauty’ and ‘Endometriosis - The Chameleon’ at WunderLocke, in celebration of International Women's Day. We caught up with them on their inspirations, and their messages of female empowerment.

Photography: © Isabel Winckler

At Locke, we open our spaces up to the local community. Offering a place for connection and collaboration, and where people can meet and spark imagination. WunderLocke’s latest exhibition series saw Jasmin and Mona focusing on celebrating women, their individuality and strength, alongside highlighting and visualising endometriosis - which Jasmin suffers from alongside one tenth of women. Jasmin and Mona’s work tends to focus on women and advocates for sustainability, feminism, diversity and a more conscious approach to our world as a whole.

How did you both meet and end up collaborating on ‘About Beauty’ and ‘Endometriosis – the Chameleon?’

We first encountered each other through Amazonen Magazine. Jasmin was the photo editor at the time, she took pictures of me and we just clicked. We realised we both had shot a series around female empowerment. Teaming up to exhibit both exhibitions gave us a boost to push things forward and things ended up working out pretty quickly. Now we speak almost everyday.

How did you become involved with Locke and why did you feel it was the right space to exhibit and share the projects?

We reached out to Locke, when we heard about another exhibition taking place there. When we first visited, we immediately fell in love with the beautiful, cosy and well-designed space and especially all the plants in the reception. We also liked the concept of Locke supporting local creatives to merge their guests with the local culture.

What do you hope attendees or viewers of the exhibition get out of the project?

We want to inspire and encourage women through drawing attention and showing new perspectives to issues that are important to us. We feel the exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to create a connection between people. Together you feel less alone with every challenge that life throws at you.

If you’re feeling uninspired, where in Munich do you go to spark imagination?

Jasmin: For me that would be either visiting one of the art exhibitions in Munich, for example in Haus der Kunst, or spending time in nature - at the Flaucher or heading out of the city to the lakes and mountains for some fresh air.

Mona: When I'm feeling uninspired, I love to escape the city and explore the nature that surrounds it. When the sun's out I'll grab my bike, a book and a picnic basket and take a leisurely ride down the Isar River. The small islands along the way provide me with moments of peace and tranquility that help to clear my mind. To further stimulate creativity, I like to explore cultural places in my neighborhood. Good places for some live music and a coffee break are for example “Gans Wo Anders” or “Alte Utting”.

Is there a city that you feel has a strong sense of female collectiveness, if so where and why?

Jasmin: At the moment I would probably say Tehran, Iran. Women are standing together, fighting for their basic human rights despite the dangers and threats they are facing from the government. That for me is beyond brave and a symbol of how women can empower each other.

Mona: I agree with Jasmin's answer regarding Tehran leading the way in empowering women and creating a strong sense of community. I believe that this kind of collectiveness is key for creating a more just society.