Capturing the transitional...
In my photography work, I seek to capture the essence of liminality - the forms of transition between the states of being, between the stages of life, between the times of day, or any other fleeting moments of transition that occur on a grand or a small scale. I am drawn to the concept of liminality because I feel that the most powerful and complex emotions are evoked at the point of transformation, a tipping point - wherever that point may occur. I am also fascinated by liminality because my life journey, and my photographic trajectory, are rich with transitions.
Quite a few years ago, growing up in Moscow, Russia, I was an avid photographer, armed with a state-of-the-art (for that time and place) camera, and advanced (for that time and place) darkroom equipment that I used often, much to the consternation of my parents: the bathroom was the only room that could be used for the purpose, and I would tie it up for hours, until I was happy with the results of my dodging and burning experiments. Later, I had to scale back my photography efforts because my academic work - a thesis on American literature - consumed all my time.
What followed was a series of transitions - I immigrated to US, adjusted to the American way of life, changed careers from academia to high-tech, got divorced, moved to California, completed my MBA, focused on my career...until many years later, my passion for photography was re-ignited by - of all things - a Groupon for a photo workshop.
The past few years have been an exhilarating journey of photographic discovery. With many transitions behind me, and for sure even more ahead of me, I am acutely aware of the ephemeral nature of life, and I focus on fleeting moments of metamorphosis as I strive to capture the daily celebrations of passage.
Quite a few years ago, growing up in Moscow, Russia, I was an avid photographer, armed with a state-of-the-art (for that time and place) camera, and advanced (for that time and place) darkroom equipment that I used often, much to the consternation of my parents: the bathroom was the only room that could be used for the purpose, and I would tie it up for hours, until I was happy with the results of my dodging and burning experiments. Later, I had to scale back my photography efforts because my academic work - a thesis on American literature - consumed all my time.
What followed was a series of transitions - I immigrated to US, adjusted to the American way of life, changed careers from academia to high-tech, got divorced, moved to California, completed my MBA, focused on my career...until many years later, my passion for photography was re-ignited by - of all things - a Groupon for a photo workshop.
The past few years have been an exhilarating journey of photographic discovery. With many transitions behind me, and for sure even more ahead of me, I am acutely aware of the ephemeral nature of life, and I focus on fleeting moments of metamorphosis as I strive to capture the daily celebrations of passage.