In a world of countless aesthetics, filters and interventions, New York-based photographer Heather Hazzan is interested in simplicity. Her stripped-back, often black-and-white portraiture centres on an intimate and emotional exchange with her subject. Her subtle, connected photographs make you stop and feel utterly disarmed while she dismantles the tired tropes of womanhood.

Hazzan’s career began in front of the camera; she worked as a model at a time when the fashion industry’s vision for women was reductive and one-dimensional. “I didn’t understand this idea that there is one way that we had to be, and if you didn’t fall into that then you’re ugly, not wanted and not valued.”