Samira Taba

I like observing life through a lens. To photograph. At the moment I take a lot of photos of nature. The nature just outside my window. I only just moved to a small village south of Aalborg and live right next to a lake. There are a couple of swans there, and one of their swan chicks has white wings but a brown speckled body. It is between two stages of life and beautiful in its own way. I like the lake because I can walk all the way around it. It calms me to watch the scenery.

Occasionally I get this feeling of ”people overload”. I was bullied as a child. This was in Aarhus, where for many years I was the only foreigner in the class. The bullying still haunts me, even though I have moved on and grown up. I find it hard to read people and need to feel the tranquility inside myself. I used to be bad at that, but as I grew older, I got better at finding the focus. Like in a photo it is all about cutting out everything that isn’t relevant. I have lived in Aalborg for 12 years, but it isn’t till now I have acknowledged that I need the tranquility of the nature. Perhaps I am between two phases of life like the swan chick? From a stranger to myself to a stranger in society. Denmark may change, but in the nature I find the tranquility and the irreversible.

36 / female / in a relationship / sociological consultant and culture counsellor / Aalborg / from Iran / came to Denmark in 1985 / residence permit 1986