Another layer of the work‚ Beneath the Surface‘ is formed by portraits created between 2019 and 2024. Combined with the landscapes, they create an associative interweaving of different states of mind. The photographer does not adopt a documentary style in her portraits either. Her subjects neither represent themselves nor a social group; rather, they embody an expressive moment in their personal encounter with the photographer. The selection of individuals is therefore not based on any logical principle, but on a radically subjective artistic attitude. Although Monika Barth trusts her intuition, there is nothing arbitrary about the interplay of the various levels in her work. The dialogue between different physiognomies and the facial expressions and gestures of the subjects, and the poetically condensed views of human nature, seems completely natural. It is precisely in the paradox of an interaction that cannot be immediately explained rationally that images can develop their imaginative power, impressively expressing what constitutes our existence: emotions in all their complex and contradictory manifestations.