POLINA HOLDING THE MIRROR
A CONVERSATION WITH PHOTOGRAPHER AND STYLST POLINA POLIKARPOVA
Polina Polikarpova is a photographer and stylist born in 1992, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. BA of history of arts from KSADA (Kharkiv state academy of design and arts). Currently she photographs in Kyiv and does costume design for the Kharkiv-based theater “Neft“. She has participated in many photography exhibitions and intl. fairs. Her work can be described as constructing scenes and characters in her hometown where she focuses on the local provincial poetics and her place in it. Appearance and plastics of her characters are infantile, erotic and extravagant, starting from objective women’s sexuality. Compositions created “here and now” are also distinctive in her style; instead of the artificial environment of studio she prefers interiors of the actual living spaces and city landscapes. She says she prefers to “hold the mirror” instead of being constantly reflected in it.
Polina’s amazing Instagram.
Greatest inspirations or influences?
My young ukrainian colleagues;
Tell us about your creative process or some upcoming stuff you are working on!
In 2020 I’m working on a few projects at one time:
Absentee photo series (2019-ongoing) where I perform the role of a flaneur and use this as a method of searching for new locations, thus striking and admiring the local audience. Pursuing a discreet review of the depersonalized sites at different times of the year and weather conditions, whether it be a city or a village, I’m creating a series of silent, sometimes mystical and surrealistic landscapes.
Also I’m just starting “Childhood ballad”, pseudo-documental photo series about my childhood and teen years (from 7 to 17).
How has covid impacted your creativity or your industry and how do u think it will change things moving forward.
2020 became very meditative for me, I found a lot of time for re-thinking about creating a lot of projects which I couldn’t find enough time earlier. At the same time, 2020 is sneaky for my industry, a few commercial projects just cancelled or postponed indefinitely so I have to think about some alternative freelance work or trying to sell my prints more than I used to previously.
