My, Myself and Mangal Dosha

Julia Sellmann (*1992 in Werdohl) works as a photographer for national and international magazines but also invests time into her own photography projects. ‘Faith’ and its different manifestations are a central point of her work. In 2016, she portrayed participants of the “Munies” sect mass wedding in South Korea – an event intended to systematically contribute to world peace. Before that, she documented the teetotalling followers of Ecopolis Tiberkul, who believe Jesus Christ to be reincarnated in the body of a Siberian police officer.

In her current research in India, she focuses on the spiritual. Mangal Dosha, the “Mars Defect”, is one of the most infamous aspects of Vedic astrology. According to traditionalist Hindu belief, this “Defect” negatively impacts the character and marriage of a given person –, especially women. Those born in this constellation are stigmatised in film and television – no wonder astrological service providers are experiencing a boom. Sellman’s photographs always straddle the line between fiction and reality and capture the constant walk on a tightrope that is existence in truthful photographic testimonies.

To Julia Sellmann’s website