Anna Andrienko about her photography work: "I am fascinated by another time"

Anna Andrienko was born in Zhovty Vody. Since her school years, the girl has been interested in photography, and is currently actively implementing all her ideas into life. Despite the fact that she is studying to be a microbiologist, the creative world does not want to leave her. Moving through time with the help of photography, Anna seems to create her own world, combining the possibilities of modernity and vintage. You can read about him in a new interview with Drive Music Media.

Interviewer: Your passion for photography began in your school years. Photos for friends - everything that we all went through eventually turned into a life's work. At what point did you realize that you wanted to do this? What attracted you to photography?

Anna: It literally happened by itself, I didn't have any goals even in those 13-14 years. I was just taking pictures. I looked more and more at Kyiv photographers and wanted to take pictures just like them. But it didn't work out either, I followed some other path. I don't want to shoot a lot of commercials and live from client to client. I want to do something creative, ideological with each shooting, to make the heart cry, to catch the eye. Something that will surely one day go down in history and art textbooks.

Interviewer: Your photos are truly a work of art. It's as if another time has stopped... How do you work on creating another photo? After all, in your filming, non-classical equipment and really well-thought-out plots are enough. Tell us how the ideas for filming appear and how the preparation goes?

Anna: It usually happens at a completely random moment when I'm riding the subway or having my first dream and I'm not fully asleep yet. And then the most important thing is to write down in detail the idea that came to mind at the same moment. The organization comes later. The main thing is not to forget her. And such technical moments are both super easy and very difficult (there are shootings that I have been preparing for months), the Internet helps us, now there are a lot of rentals, online stores, second hand and so on to find something interesting to shoot. As for the stories of the shooting that I paint in the reels, it all comes with time: maybe during the shooting itself, maybe during processing. These storylines push for some more thought-out poses or strange processing.

Interviewer: Tell us about the shooting of "Butterfly under the moonlight".

Anna: The story is actually long and twisted. Andriy (our model) made the wings for this shoot a long time ago. He and Polina planned this idea for a long time, but never got around to it. And Polina actually wrote to me, we finalized this idea, wrote down all the details together: starting with clothes, where to find a dress for the boy, ending with make-up and black painted gloves that smoothly transition into real hands. But I didn't think the blue trim would be good. For some reason, those wings reminded me of Kafka's "Metamorphosis". It's not a cockroach aha and good, so the image of a butterfly acted as a kind of metaphor. And I showed this metaphor in photoshop with these flashes, butterflies and dragonflies flying around him.

Interviewer: Why retro? Are you fascinated by a different time or simply "very trendy and interesting"?

Anna: Maybe so, the phrase "I am fascinated by other times" is very apt. Maybe even another reality. I'm bored of the routine, living among the stone jungle, and in general, I'm often bored of everything. Therefore, I saturate my life as much as possible with filming, I experience a different reality, different emotions.

Interviewer: There is currently a war going on. I think it's very difficult to continue doing your job at this time, but you still work on. Tell us about the peculiarities of filming in wartime?

Anna: In fact, in almost a year of full-scale war, we all somehow adapted to it. Yes, I no longer conduct night shootings with street lighting, because it is turned off, I do not shoot in fancy museums, because there was a fly-in on their street. But, for example, studios bought generators. And even in the absence of light, I can calmly, without worrying, conduct a shooting. All of us are more loyal to delays/postponements of filming due to massive shelling. No matter how much we want it, we are used to war.

Interviewer: Your phrase is very difficult, but true "used to war". What does "used to war" mean to you?

Anna: We are used to the war, I don't even know, I just don't feel that "numbness in the body" like at the beginning of the war. I treat everything coldly and look only from the point of view of "how to solve it or how to help them".

Interviewer: You have created your own workshops. Tell us about your first experience. What were your thoughts on this at the beginning? Why did you decide to switch to this shooting format?

Anna: This is a great way to fill people with your inspiration, to immerse yourself in a circle of like-minded people. And another most significant plus - you can realize the most complex idea without being limited by finances. From the beginning, of course, I was afraid that people wouldn't like it, that I wouldn't recruit a group. But the seats for the first workshop were sold in 3 hours.

Interviewer: But... Your specialty has nothing to do with photography. Tell me why you decided to enter the university as a microbiologist?

Anna: Biology was given to me by itself, as if intuitively. I didn't particularly prepare for the finals, but scored 186. And now I don't devote much time to studying, but I stay on scholarships. And I chose microbiology because it is the most adequate and loyal department in our university.

Interviewer: You had more than one exhibition. One even in London. Tell us how your photos got there? And how was your first photo exhibition in your life?

Anna: In all cases, the organizers wrote to me and sent me all the information about the exhibition and what was required of me. The first was on a patriotic theme at the Belkin restaurant. The organizers themselves chose the photos from my profile that they would like to see at the exhibition and I sent them to them. All the exhibitions in which I took part were charitable, and this one too. Entrance fees went to ZSU (edit. - Ukrainian Army).

Photo by Anna Andrienko

On photos Andriy Dotsenko, Victoria Dukhota, Olexandr Bachynskyy