Italian photographer Guen Fiore has released her debut photobook "Echo," a tender exploration of girls navigating the complex transition from childhood to adolescence. Shot over seven years, the collection presents intimate portraits that capture young women suspended in what Fiore describes as the "liminality of coming of age."
The photographer explains her artistic vision by noting that while growing older brings detachment from past versions of ourselves, those earlier selves never fully disappear. "What was once loud softens, but it never disappears," Fiore says. "Each portrait captures the essence of the girls at a particular moment: a snapshot of their identities and experiences as we were. The echo is what remains for us to feel and reflect on now."
Fiore's work draws inspiration from the in-between space of adolescence, exploring the tension between childhood and adulthood that defines early womanhood. She cites Sofia Coppola's film "The Virgin Suicides" as a formative influence on her artistic approach. "The transitional stage between adolescence and young adulthood is filled with change," she explains. "External pressures can make it difficult to accept yourself and freely explore what you're naturally drawn to."
At its core, the project evolved into an exploration of the body and sexuality during this formative period. The images reveal an understated awkwardness drifting through some frames, contrasted against sudden flashes of confidence. "I know there is a quiet power in seeing yourself in ways you may have been afraid to before, perhaps because you felt you didn't match the standards imposed on you," Fiore explains.
The poses in Fiore's photographs inhabit this transitional space, shifting between relaxation and tension – neither childlike nor fully adult. Writer Alessia Glaviano, who contributed to the book's statement, describes the subjects as being "caught in a pending state – as if uncertain of how to proceed – with an unrelenting power pulling them upwards, towards young adulthood and a second powerful and untamable force pushing, with equal strength, in the opposite direction, towards childhood – a realm that is fading away without ever truly disappearing."
The photographer conveys this in-between state through intimate, close framing that captures subtle details scattered across the girls' bodies – bruises, redness, love marks, scars, and tattoos. Some of these details were intentionally framed while others were not, but once Fiore notices a particular element, it becomes crucial to the shot. The settings are equally intimate, with most subjects photographed in bedrooms and living rooms, sprawled on carpets or standing barefoot on worn floorboards.
These familiar, private spaces reflect the idleness of adolescence – the mundane quality of rooms soon to be outgrown and the quiet stirrings of nostalgia that linger long afterward. Most of the girls featured in the project were discovered through Instagram, a process that Fiore says adds an additional layer of identity to the images.
"What I particularly like about finding girls on Instagram is that it offers a window into how they express themselves, how they want to be seen," she explains. While scrolling through accounts, posts, and story tags, she was drawn to subtleties and complexities that aren't immediately apparent. "I'm fascinated by the potential to reveal something new and refreshing, whether it's expressed through quiet shyness or confidence. That mix of vulnerability and strength is what often captures my attention and inspires me to work with someone."
Through her selection of models, Fiore unintentionally created a mirror reflecting parts of herself. "People often tell me that some of the girls remind them of me, or that there's a certain resemblance among them," she tells Dazed. "It's hard to articulate exactly what it is, but in every girl I photograph, there's an element that resonates with me." The photographer notes that the girls she photographs are, on average, about ten years younger than herself – a gap that has shaped her perspective on the work.
"Ten years gives you enough distance for perspective, but not so much that you feel removed. Many of our experiences still overlap," she continues. Over time, this sense of reflection became central to the project, with revisiting adolescence inevitably casting light back on her own experiences.
Fiore's own upbringing was shaped by familiar pressures and expectations of youth. "Starting high school exposed me to what was considered cool or beautiful, and what wasn't," she recalls. "Growing up in Italy, beauty ideals were highly visible, narrow, and well-defined. I don't think I fully realized how much this shaped my self-esteem as a young girl." She explains that while these pressures exist everywhere, not fitting the established standards can lead young people to believe they're "not good enough for many things."
Interestingly, the impact of beauty standards intensified for Fiore in her late teens but hit hardest around ages 25 or 26 – precisely when she started taking photographs for enjoyment. In this way, "Echo" became as much a record of Fiore's own coming of age as that of her subjects.
"These portraits feel like echoes of what we shared," she explains. "They remind me not only of them but also of how deeply photographing them helped me understand myself, and of the way they shaped my perspective as a photographer." Now that the project is complete, Fiore feels a sense of detachment from the work that mirrors how we often feel about our adolescent selves.
She views "Echo" as a celebration of growth, continuity, and the lasting imprint of the past on the present. The photobook represents not just documentation of a transitional period in young women's lives, but also an artistic meditation on memory, identity, and the complex process of growing up. "Echo" by Guen Fiore is published by Patrick Remy Studio.
