Exploring women’s roles in their microcosms

Pepi Loulakaki met Bahar years ago, when she was just 12 years old and selling flowers in downtown Athens' Plaka district. Bahar would often pop into the older photographer's home to rest her weary feet from walking around the streets selling gardenias to romancing couples. They gradually became friends and started to learn each other's language. "I told her not to drop out of school, but I could see that her mind was on love and boys. I photographed her because she had a special beauty and she liked to philosophize on life and learn new things," Loulakaki recalls.

Their paths separated and crossed again 15 years later in the village of Drosero in Xanthi, northern Greece, where the photographer was working on a project about Thrace and its ethnic minorities. Bahar was married and had two school-aged kids. "Her hospitality was among the warmest I have ever received; the...