Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Daring Fairytale-like Portraits by Katerina Plotnikova

Moscow based photographer Katerina Plotnikova has been making a name for herself for her daring photos of young girls embracing wild beasts. (We first posted her work on our Facebook page.) Her haunting portraits are created with real, specially trained animals such as bears, owls, deer and foxes, blending surrealism with inspiration from fairytales. Perhaps our fascination with her images comes from a place we’ve almost forgotten, as deforestation and global warming become imminent threats to our planet. With each series, her work pushes the boundaries even further. Read more after the jump.

Moscow based photographer Katerina Plotnikova has been making a name for herself for her daring photos of young girls embracing wild beasts. (We first posted her work on our Facebook page.) Her haunting portraits are created with real, specially trained animals such as bears, owls, deer and foxes, blending surrealism with inspiration from fairytales. Perhaps our fascination with her images comes from a place we’ve almost forgotten, as deforestation and global warming become imminent threats to our planet. With each series, her work pushes the boundaries even further.

Like other photographers we’ve highlighted recently, Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison and Elena Kalis, Plotnikova’s work celebrates our deep relationship with nature and how important it is to preserve it. One of her new photographs portrays a model lying injured on a road broken by tropical rains in Thailand. Her use of the environment is stunningly beautiful, but we are looking at the result of global climate change. In others, an ice sheet melts and crumbles around the model as she sleeps- later rising anew as a sapling from a burnt tree. Plotnikova’s imagery not only reminds us of our planet’s fragility but ignites a beacon of hope. Her surreal photos of a more blissful time may actually be a dream for the future.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
The women that populate Martine Johanna's world are pensive warriors who occupy a place of tension between powerful command and fragile insecurity; and between upstanding morality and dark cruelty. In many ways, the figural subjects of Johanna's paintings are conflate the complex binaries between which people battle and waver, settle and compromise. While each subject is shown as unique in appearance and mood, they are all united by a distant, thoughtful gaze − a metaphor for the wandering, worrying human mind.
Erik Johansson disrupts the quiet stillness of life in the countryside with images of idyllic scenes gone awry. His photography borders on photo illustration, as Johansson takes great liberties with his imaginative editing. In one piece called Land Fall, for instance, a field drops off into an abyss like a waterfall, leaving a small cottage on its precipice. In other works, Johansson muddles the distinction between indoors and outdoors, creating optical illusions that play with our understanding of space. In addition to working on his personal projects, Johansson is a commercial photographer and the highly-polished look of his commissioned work comes through in his fine art.
Michael Dandley, an artist based in New Hampshire, crafts vibrant, transformative works out of the ordinary. At times, the artist is commenting on our impact on the natural world; elsewhere, he captures the engrossing beauty out of our sight. Though not all carry the surreal weight of his wilder images, all contain a certain serenity in the artist’s choices of palette and perspective.
Swedish-born, San Francisco-based photographer Gabriel Isak shoots stylized photos filled with enigmatic symbolism and an enchanted ambiance. Solitary figures populate desolate nature scenes that seem to take place in the dead of winter. His color palette of black, grey, brown, and icy, cool blue underscores his work's dark mood. Take a look at some of his recent photos below.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List