Shared Art: Initial Research

Anya Kholina was born in Moscow, Russia and she works as Fine Arts, People and Lifestyle Photographer. Mostly focused on a portraits she has a passion shooting on film but also she can works in other fields of photography.

She came from a very conservative background and both of her parents are lawyers. She went to law school but she realised that she was not interested in this. But she graduated from University from her parents insistence. 'After that she started a course in Graphic Design and Illustration. During design education I always integrated photos into my graphic works and the final (graduation) project was a collaboration with a fashion designer.'

Nowadays she does reportage, food, interiors and still life. But her passion is people. 'A pretty funny thing is that I have always considered myself an introvert but at the same time I love taking pictures of people.'

She considers herself introvert but at the same time she loves take pictures of people. "People inspire me. How they look, their style and their mannerism."

She is a visual person and she sees fashion as a visualisation of our inner selfs. She believes that fashion is a big tool to tell a story. When it comes to inspiration she says something interesting that I do like to share it here. "Frankly, I'm doing nothing for this. Inspiration comes from things and people that surround me, just surround yourself with the right components. Networking also helps. If things are really bad, then the best way is to go on a trip."

During the lockdown she started to make a series of portraits of people parted their hair. That kind of photography it is very different, exciting and it is very interesting for me. Photography that people in general are not used to see. With different elements and subjects. Exploring more than a beautiful face she adds different things to her pictures.

Thanks to quarantine she can take pictures online from anywhere. That is something that I want to explore. A new technique that others artists could not use in the past.

I have looked into Anya Kholina work and to her subjects that she uses to bring emotion and reality into her pictures. The balance, light and composition is something that captivate me.