Karolina Jonderko, Poland

They are delivered along with birth certificate, size and weight indication. They look like babies and they are even impregnated with the scent of babies. But they are made of vinyl. 

In the long-term project she started in 2015, Polish photographer Karolina Jonderko has tried to find out why grown-up women would want to have an artificial baby. A baby doll that they use to make videos later posted on YouTube. A doll they take to the playground or to restaurants where they put it in a high chair. A doll they say is ill so that they can nurse it back to health. Or for which they switch on the TV so that it doesn’t feel alone. 

Jonderko found that these artificial babies are a “powerful therapy tool”, for example as a substitute baby for women who can’t have children. Or for women who have lost a baby. “Their love has to go somewhere”, she says. And caring for these artificial children also brings a calming routine to the women that obviously helps them to deal with loss and depression.

Curriculum Vitae: Karolina Jonderko (Napo Images)

Born in 1985 in Rydułtowy. Coal miner's daughter. Member of Napo Images Agency. Most of her long-term projects are focused on the aftermath of loss. Experiencing it herself she wants to draw attention to the issues people face. Projects on this theme include "Self-portrait with my mother", "Lost", "Reborn", and "Little Poland". 

Her long-term projects were nationally and internationally awarded. She won Magnum & Ideas Tap award and completed the internship at Magnum Photos office in New York City. Karolina is an award-winning photographer with a master's degree in photography from the Polish National Film, Television and Theater School in Lodz. She is based in Poland and works on verity of her projects both locally and internationally.