Russian fine art photographer, Katerina Plotnikova, describes her work as “another tale about wonderland”. There is a sincerity in that statement that alludes to the humble, the direct and the softly spoken nature of her work. Heart-wrenchingly tender, these rare captures depict an intimacy between the wild animal and fragile human in all of it’s quiet glory. In the forests we are the aliens, and yet these images show us as welcomed. The moment held is one of beautiful surrender and sublime connection. Wild tames the watcher.
Her work is refreshingly free from big budgets, from digital manipulation, from sets or professional models. She uses Photoshop sparingly. Her costumes come from thrift stores and many of these shots were taken on a wanderland road trip across Russia with a good friend and a couple of animal trainers. In her own words she was “relying on the kindness of strangers”.
It is this pared back quality of her work that perhaps points us to where the true fairytale waits. Isn’t magic all about the potential for realizing the impossible? It’s the thing that speaks to that part of us that wants to believe in those things beyond words, beyond logic and adult reason. Yes, they are real. Without effect, Katerina gives us exactly what we were hoping for. The realization that life still has the ability to smack you between the eyes with it’s magic.
Welcome to Wonderland.
Visit Katerina’s facebook page here.
