“So many women, so many paths”, the 11F campaign that pays tribute to the women of CREAF through photography

When you take a photo of a person, you probably don't just capture a specific moment in their life, you freeze a trajectory with it and, if you're really good at it, you can make a part of their soul emerge. Photographs are powerful and help us see what sometimes seemed invisible to the eyes.

At CREAF we have long believed in the power of images and that is why we wanted to celebrate February 11, the Day of Women and Girls in Science , by giving away a photograph to all the women who work at the center. But not just any photograph. We organized a professional photo shoot so that all of them have a portrait where they look authentic, professional and that represents them wherever they need it.

Humans are visual, we use photographs as a cover letter in many environments and now, with the digitalization of communication, having a good quality photograph can become very important. In recent years, we have taken advantage of the ephemeris to claim some barriers that must be overcome on the path to equality, this 2026, we wanted to offer a tool that we think everyone can use to claim this path, each in their own way.

When you take photos of almost 100 people in a row and listen to them, with the intimacy and fragility that comes with being in front of a lens, you see that each one has come to stand in front of the CREAF camera following very different paths. One has only been at the center for a few months, another has been working there for more than 25 years, one already knows why she will use it, she has been asked to speak at several conferences, the other has put together her first resume, because she is just in her second year of her doctorate.

All the women who, together, make it possible for CREAF's research to advance and be possible have passed in front of the lens, researchers, technicians, managers , all of them worry because "I don't know how to pose so that the photo looks good" or because "I'm not photogenic at all", but they all share the excitement of having this gift.

"Seeing the women going through the photo shoot, almost all questioning their image, it was impossible not to imagine how different a photo shoot of only men would have been. This difference challenges us and reminds us that we must continue to generate spaces so that the work of all of them - managers, technicians and researchers - is recognized without the constant weight of stereotypes. It is beautiful to become aware, by linking the gazes, of the diversity of life stories behind them ", Teresa Rosas, Head of Academic Talent and Gender

A person's present is the result of a lot of decisions that draw a path. A path that, sometimes, can be very winding, with changes of direction, twists and turns, or very simple, just as you had imagined from the beginning. Thus, there are life paths that are surprising and others that are totally predictable.

Apart from the photographs, this 11F we wanted to celebrate the journeys that our women have taken to end up in front of the CREAF camera. What led them to do research, what moved them as children to get to where they are today, looking at themselves today through the new portrait, what would they say to that girl they were? Was the path they have taken worth it? Watch the video and find out.