Like Actors in Her Play (12 photos)

23-year-old Elizaveta Porodina is one of those fashion photographers who can take an idea and run with it. Her highly conceptual images appear otherworldly and the way she uses various props, like wispy scarves, colored smoke or rolls of cotton, only serve to enhance her images, making her models appear even more intriguing. Part of this Germany-based photographer's gift is making her subjects appear comfortable in their own skin...so much so that they lose their inhibitions, becoming almost like actors in her magnificent play.

I was able to get in touch with Elizaveta to ask her about her creative process. Read that short Q&A below.












Do you have specific concepts in mind before you shoot?
Yes and no. Certainly, I scribble, plan and organize and I do have an image in my head. But I don't stick to this image if I see that other factors like hazard, the beauty of the model or the very special light are much better than what I had planned in the first place. I think having a concept is extremely important for everyone who wants to tell a coherent story and communicate it to other people. But, in fact, as long as I manage to bring out a story which is beautiful, authentic and a bit mysteriously ambivalent, I don't care about the direction it takes during the shooting, editing and post-production.

There's an artistic side to your photography. How did that develop?
It's never been my aim to become a fashion photographer in the first place. I have always needed an artistic medium to let my stories out. In my teenage years, it was drawing, painting and singing. In my early twenties, I chose photography. Also, fine art has always been a big passion and a never ending love story in my life.

How has your style starting changing or developing? What influences you?
I've certainly noticed a change of style. While in the beginning I was a big fan of playful pictures and effects, I now try to reduce these to a minimum. I think that the movement, the body language and the expression of the model has started to become the key element of my photography with each new project.

Elizaveta Porodina on Flickr

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