Human rights are an important topic. Freedom of expression is an inner value. From today’s perspective, it also means nurturing a fragile democracy. In this context, the queer community becomes a kind of litmus test for how we understand freedom: as long as we are not open, as long as we do not accept the Other, our freedom remains conditional, because not everyone feels safe and happy in such a reality. It is a way of speaking about discrimination that is still alive, though often masked in subtle ways, and about rejection not only of the individual, but of the very possibility of being. I always try to see a person as profoundly beautiful, both externally and internally. Beauty is present in everyone; it only needs to be seen. I want my work to reflect being with the other. This is especially true when I photograph members of the queer community – often, through their portraits, painful experiences and unspoken stories surface, stories that society tends to ignore or pass by indifferently. And I feel that indifference as a heavy existential burden.

Volungė Aušra Griškonytė (b. 1976) is a photographer and media artist, a graduate of the Master’s program in Photography and Media Art (2025) and a member of the Lithuanian Photographers Association (since 2023). Her work explores identity, social visibility, and the body as a political field. Her art often speaks of what has been pushed to the margins of society – gender expression, queer experience, and borderline states of being. Volungė’s works are exhibited in both institutional and alternative spaces in Lithuania and abroad, inviting viewers into a dialogue on the human right to be oneself.

Photo by Mindaugas Janušaitis: Volungė Aušra Griškonytė