"A few months ago I entered the Amazonian jungle of Ecuador. I found this very expressive young woman in a Quechua tribe. She was wearing her wedding dress (yes, this was her wedding outfit), which she used when she was fifteen years old (yes, it is common for people from this tribe to get married at that age). She let me take some photos of her in her courtyard. Actually, in Amazonia, the entire jungle can be your courtyard." - Mihaela Noroc
Image via Mihaela Noroc
Image via Mihaela Noroc
"In the first part of my journey [for The Atlas of Beauty] I went from Romania to Japan only by land and sea. This way I was able to observe, step-by-step, country-by-country, the changes of the female physiognomies around me. This is Agate, a young Latvian from Riga."
Image via Mihaela Noroc
Image via Mihaela Noroc
"I met Estefania by chance on the streets of Medellin, Colombia, one of the most diverse cities in the world."
Image via Mihaela Noroc
Image via Mihaela Noroc
"[This woman] was walking around a temple monastery with her mother. It's a thing the Tibetans do. They walk around the temple before they enter. I think she was quite surprised when I told her she was beautiful, and I think that surprise is what shows in her face. You know what I have learned? People don't think they are beautiful. But they are. You wear your story on your face, and that is part of who we are. I am looking for the stories behind that beauty, and the lives my subjects have lived."
Image via Mihaela Noroc
Image via Mihaela Noroc
"Maybe in 50 years all women from all around the world will dress and act the same. I hope my project will remain a witness to my era's cultures and traditions... [This woman] is a market seller in Uzbekistan."
Image via Mihaela Noroc
Image via Mihaela Noroc