Powerty

Power inside poverty.

Power inside poverty.
A pregnancy story.

My name is MIKAEL VAN LICHTBERG. I’m a photographer and visual artist and I’ll get straight to the point:

I’m presenting my first independent editorial series.

Shot on 35mm film at the Kunstmuseum Bonn in Germanys old capital, the project stages Berlin-based model KIM KNORKE in and around an actual police vehicle — styled in fashion pieces by PRADA and BALENCIAGA.

You can carry life and still feel unsure about your own.

The Pregnant Body as Symbol

The photo series reflects a reality many young women face. Becoming pregnant at a young age can interrupt education and delay career development. For women who are alone, it can also reinforce economic instability.

A child can deepen purpose. It can also reduce options.

This project does not present a clear answer. It creates space for reflection on young motherhood and poverty without moral judgment. The images are intimate rather than political. They suggest a situation and invite interpretation.

This pregnancy portrait series positions young motherhood within a broader social context. It reflects contemporary realities in which financial precarity, generational pressure and early responsibility intersect. Rather than presenting a traditional maternity portrait, Powerty approaches pregnancy as a cultural and economic condition. The work situates the pregnant body within questions of independence, stability and female identity in modern European society.

In modern society poverty often means having little influence. It limits mobility, opportunity and long term security. Economic precarity reduces control over one’s future and positions a person at the lower end of social structures.

Pregnancy introduces a paradox.

A young woman may lack financial power, yet she carries responsibility for new life. She becomes central to someone’s existence. Motherhood can create strength while increasing vulnerability at the same time.

Powerty exists inside that tension between empowerment and limitation.

In modern society poverty often means having little influence. It limits mobility, opportunity and long term security. Economic precarity reduces control over one’s future and positions a person at the lower end of social structures.

Pregnancy introduces a paradox.

A young woman may lack financial power, yet she carries responsibility for new life. She becomes central to someone’s existence. Motherhood can create strength while increasing vulnerability at the same time.

Powerty exists inside that tension between empowerment and limitation.

Young Motherhood and Financial Precarity

Pregnancy in Powerty represents vulnerability. It also represents authority.

The body is exposed without romantic styling. Nudity here is realism and confrontation. This is not a traditional maternity shoot designed as a private memory. It is an intimate portrait of a young pregnant woman positioned within a fragile environment.

The viewer is confronted with a question.

Is she trapped within her circumstances
Is she empowered by responsibility
Can both states exist simultaneously?

There is love, but there is also pressure.

Presence of the Photographer

Powerty is photographed from a male perspective. That position is not neutral and it is not invisible.

As a male photographer working with themes of pregnancy, vulnerability and young motherhood, I am aware that my gaze carries weight. The reflection in the mirror makes that presence visible. I am not outside the image. I am part of the construction.

My interest in this theme is not documentary distance. It is an attempt to understand strength within fragility from a position that is structurally different. The camera does not claim authority over the subject. It negotiates proximity.

By allowing the photographer to appear in the reflection, the work acknowledges its own gaze. Powerty does not pretend to be an objective statement about young motherhood. It is a constructed encounter shaped by perspective, presence and responsibility.

No story exists without a point of view.

Young Motherhood and Financial Precarity

Pregnancy in Powerty represents vulnerability. It also represents authority.

The body is exposed without romantic styling. Nudity here is realism and confrontation. This is not a traditional maternity shoot designed as a private memory. It is an intimate portrait of a young pregnant woman positioned within a fragile environment.

The viewer is confronted with a question. Is she trapped within her circumstances
Is she empowered by responsibility
Can both states exist simultaneously?

Presence of the Photographer

An independent Art Project

Powerty is photographed from a male perspective. That position is not neutral and it is not invisible.

As a male photographer working with themes of pregnancy, vulnerability and young motherhood, I am aware that my gaze carries weight. The reflection in the mirror makes that presence visible. I am not outside the image. I am part of the construction.

My interest in this theme is not documentary distance. It is an attempt to understand strength within fragility from a position that is structurally different. The camera does not claim authority over the subject. It negotiates proximity.

By allowing the photographer to appear in the reflection, the work acknowledges its own gaze. Powerty does not pretend to be an objective statement about young motherhood. It is a constructed encounter shaped by perspective, presence and responsibility.

Powerty is an independent art photography project created at the end of 2025. It stands alone as a complete series.

The work explores themes of young motherhood, financial precarity and female empowerment without turning the subject into a social case study.

It invites reflection on the relationship between poverty and power in contemporary society.

Behind the Shoot

There is strength here, even if it is quiet.

Powerty was photographed in Cologne Germany inside an apartment that was in its final state before renovation. The space was empty and ready to be rebuilt.

Furniture and styling were deliberately placed inside this stripped environment. A bed, a standing mirror and a few personal objects were introduced to suggest temporary living conditions.

Johanna, the model, is not poor in real life. She is a young mother with a partner and her own career. This contrast is intentional. The series is not documentary. It is a constructed emotional scenario that reflects structural realities many women experience.

The series was shot in winter. The low sun created strong contrast inside the apartment. The yellow painted walls intensified the warmth of the natural light while the reddish brown flooring deepened the tone.

Natural light shaped the body. Reflectors, flags and subtle flash were used to refine contrast without losing authenticity.

High contrast defines form rather than softening it. The pregnancy is clearly visible and physically present.

Some days feel heavier than others.

Powerty is an independent art photography project created at the end of 2025. It stands alone as a complete series.

The work explores themes of young motherhood, financial precarity and female empowerment without turning the subject into a social case study.

It invites reflection on the relationship between poverty and power in contemporary society.

Mikael van Lichtberg:

Mikael van Lichtberg is a European photographer and visual artist based in Germany. After working in commercial advertising and content production, he shifted his focus entirely toward independent artistic photography.

His work explores themes of femininity, generational identity and the construction of self in contemporary culture. Working primarily with 35mm film alongside digital formats, he develops portraits that move between fashion photography and emotional narrative.

His visual language is shaped by analog intimacy, natural light and subtle tension, often positioning the body within spaces that reflect social context and quiet resistance.

Behind The Scenes / BTS