My large-format images honor the tradition of staged photography while addressing a timely topic: relationships in contemporary society. The tension between our everyday reality and our inner reality, how we live with ourselves and with others, is the driving force in my work. I explore how people across generations, genders and countries are connected. Using photographic composition, I illuminate the influences that shape us as individuals and as social beings, and I raise questions about class, gender, identity, and intimacy. In the project 'Archipelago' (2004-2014), the photographs operate as a collection of 'islands', separated by the loneliness of each one and connected by the intimate bond of belonging to the same world. The relationship between the people defines itself through the setting that conversely becomes a psychological extension of the characters.