Around the world women live very different lives. Many try to balance work and family, while others devote themselves to a singular calling. When Venezuelan photographer Mariliana Arvelo came to New York in 2002, she stayed at the Centro Maria, a residence for young women run by Catholic nuns from Spain and Latin America. Slowly she got to know them and began photographing them. Here are some of her images and thoughts on the project.

“My first reaction was to the contrast between the residence and its chaotic environs in the area of midtown Manhattan known as Hell’s Kitchen. I was planning to stay just a few weeks while I looked for an apartment, but this changed as I got to know the nuns who lived and worked there.”

“These nuns are full of stories, but are generally very closed with respect to their private lives. They work all day cooking, cleaning, fixing things, doing laundry, and praying. At first the nuns weren’t willing to let me photograph them. They didn’t understand why I would want to take their pictures.”

“But after living there a few months and building closer relationships with them, gradually I was able to take more and more photos. The focus of the project was to take the portraits in key spaces of the house, places where they were most, or places over which they felt a sense of ownership.”