The Outside of the Inside is an ongoing portrait project that explores how inner experience becomes visible on the surface of the face and body.
Through a series of carefully composed portraits, the work examines presence, vulnerability, and the complexity of being seen.
The project focuses on individuals whose appearances carry stories shaped by difference, such as disability, illness, or lived experiences that fall outside dominant norms. Rather than illustrating these experiences, the portraits approach them quietly and without explanation, allowing each subject to exist beyond categorization.
Formally, the images draw on classical portrait traditions, using controlled light, restrained backgrounds, and a direct gaze. This visual simplicity creates space for the encounter between photographer and subject, emphasizing attentiveness over spectacle. The portraits resist definitive interpretation, instead inviting the viewer to remain with uncertainty and nuance.
Collaboration is central to the project. The photographic process is approached as a shared moment, where time, trust, and agency are essential. The Outside of the Inside does not aim to define its subjects, but to propose a place of meeting, where dignity, difference, and humanity are allowed to coexist.
About Martina Holmberg
Martina Holmberg is a visual artist and photographer based in Sweden. Her work explores themes of identity, vulnerability, memory, and the human condition, often through long-term, research-based portrait projects. With a background in fine art photography and storytelling, her practice examines the ethical relationship between photographer and subject, as well as the space where inner experience becomes visible.
Holmberg’s work has received international recognition through awards and exhibitions, and she is the recipient of several prestigious Swedish art grants, including long-term support from the Swedish Authors’ Fund. Alongside her artistic practice, she is also engaged in education and mentorship, with a focus on visual literacy and narrative responsibility.
Her projects are driven by curiosity, attentiveness, and a belief in photography as a place of encounter rather than representation. [Office Website]
