Where There is a Will,
There is a Way

Adventurer, writer and photographer Ella Maillart (1903–1997) was born and raised in Geneva. She spent her life traveling the globe – journeys that took her from Eastern Europe to India, Afghanistan and the furthest reaches of Asia.  

An idealistic free spirit, Maillart traveled to parts of the world considered dangerous, where few dared to venture. She was driven by an insatiable curiosity and a fascination for stories and communities that were often little-known in the West. In 1930, after finally obtaining a visa, she documented the lives of Russian youth up close. In 1935, she embarked on an expedition to Central Asia – camera and notebook in tow – where she encountered Turkish-speaking communities and Indigenous Middle Eastern tribes. It was during this trip that she captured this image of a young woman with an intense gaze. The photograph was taken in Cherchen, a town in East Turkestan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Maillart first published her account of this trip in 1937 in a book entitled Forbidden Journey: From Peking to Kashmir.  

This image comes from Maillart’s personal photo catalogue, an essential part of her work process in which she painstakingly organized and categorized her photographs and handwritten notes. This personal corpus covers a diverse range of topical subjects and now stands as a valuable archive of worldwide interest.  

Maillart lived an extraordinary life, unafraid to break with the conventions of her era. An intrepid adventurer who was ahead of her time, she remains an inspiration for young and old.