With my ongoing series "Be Longing", I am creating a visual diary that explores what home means to me and how belonging is deeply rooted in family ties and the close communities we surround ourselves with. Combining self-portraits, archival materials and everyday moments captured through both still photographs and moving images, I document my paternal heritage in and around Philadelphia, USA.

Raised by my mother in Europe, I had only met my biological father once as a baby. In 2017, I reunited with my paternal family for the first time. That experience revealed parts of myself that had long been missing — most notably, a deeper understanding of what it means to navigate life as a Black woman in a Eurocentric society. Throughout my twenties, as I am revisiting my family, I not only reconnect with my cultural and biological roots but am also forming profound bonds with relatives.

Since 2022, I have been documenting this personal journey and these evolving relationships. By stepping into an unfamiliar landscape of cultures and emotions, I translate my narrative into images — capturing the joy of finally belonging, and the grief of longing for a past I can never fully reclaim.

I believe photography is a way of building legacy — a means of letting personal histories become part of collective memory. I hope "Be-longing" can be translated into such a body of work. It would be a great honor to present my work at Hamburg Portfolio review and have the opportunity to exhibit it, as I believe it would allow me to refine my vision, deepen my artistic practice, and build creative legacy.