Odessa, Ukraine’s Olia Pishchanska is a photographer of mammoth talent and vision. Her photos are strange journeys into a foggy underworld where pagan spirits rule and introspection is at its highest. The landscape of Ukraine is her canvas, and she brings out the mysterious beauty and sinister quality of it in every photograph. She recently completed a solo show, “Dreamcatcher,” accompanied by a haunting soundtrack by Heinali and Matt Finney of the same name. Today CVLT Nation speaks with Pishchanska about her works and inspiration. After the jump, read our interview with the Dreamcatcher Queen…
Hi Olia, how are things?
Hi Meghan, everything’s epic. After the “Dreamcatcher” solo show I allowed myself to have some rest but now I’m back to work on a new series and CD covers.
When did you take your first photo?
It’s so hard to remember, but it was definitely in during my school years. My parents gave me their old film camera and I started practicing. Nobody ever instructed me in these things, so I made a lot of mistakes, but finally after ten years I’ve almost got the results that satisfy me more or less.
Are you inspired by Pagan beliefs and practices?
Actually, I think that all of this world’s sacred knowledge comes from Paganism originally. Now this knowledge is modified, but even our contemporary music is eventually a part of Paganism. And I’m not only impressed and inspired by these things – I’m trying to mix all spiritualistic beliefs, deep psychology and our objective reality into one potion.
How does Nature play a role in your subjects?
While making portraits or scenes I’m not trying to personalize them or to show specific features of the subjects’ personalities. I don’t really like to show faces, so I use masks and costumes occasionally. My aim is to create a mood and a feeling that is familiar for every beholder, in the way he could identify himself with the person in the photo. And finally one can notice that it is Nature that can be considered the main instrument for creating the mood. I like taking photos during late autumn or winter, with their cold winds, mists, stormy seas and all the dynamic scenes. Yes, it’s really hard to work when it’s cold, but I’m quite satisfied when I get the proper sombre feeling in the picture, so I don’t mind the weather.
A lot of your photography has a cloudy or distant quality to it. How do you create this perspective, and what does it represent?
This is just the way I see outward things, physically. So it’s really fair not only to sense things like that, but to reproduce them in the same way in my pictures. Besides, I like scenes with a touch of mystification, and this cloudy vision is quite a good thing to create a proper background. As for technique, I use a lot of them, for example old and defective lenses, or final retouching at least.
When did you start working with bands on CD covers/artwork? Who are some of the bands you have worked with?
I’ve started working with CD artwork a few years ago because of my friends – most of them are musicians. And for now this is my favourite kind of practice. Of course I prefer collaborations with metal bands, and dark ambient and post-rock/metal projects are rather interesting for me too. Some of the bands I was lucky to work with are: My Personal Murderer (depressive rock, http://www.myspace.com/mpmband), Om Hösten (black metal, http://www.myspace.com/omhosten/), Suicide Nation (melodic death metal, http://www.myspace.com/suicidenationband), Sauroctonos (black/post-black metal, http://www.myspace.com/sauroctonos), and some other awesome guys.
How did you conceive of your series “Dreamcatcher”?
As you probably could mark for yourself, this series contains rather different works as far as their subjects and technique. These are separate shots taken over the last year, and I decided to assemble them together in one exhibition. People who were involved in making of this show decided that the gloomy and cloudy moods of the pictures suited the name “Dreamcatcher” because they thought about a “dream” as the first association while looking at these pics. Besides, I do often use subjects of my own dreams in these photos, I take all these creatures from my unconscious state of mind.
How did you come to work with Heinali & Matt Finney on your “Dreamcatcher” project?
We met with Heinali just for a cup of tea, and I told him about the upcoming exhibition and somehow we decided to make it more interesting along with his music…actually this decision came all of a sudden. I’m a big fan of what these two guys are doing. And when I first listened to their track “Dreamcatcher,” I found it extremely beautiful, it was exactly what I imagined as the soundtrack for this show.
What are the arts like in Odessa? Is there a large heavy metal community?
Well, we do have some guys doing some interesting things, mostly in metal music, but we don’t really have large or strong community. Those who are creating arts don’t communicate much, and even don’t go out of their homes often because of the business. We’re all individualists, but sometimes we meet to make something together, that’s all.
Do you travel a lot with your photography, or do you find most of your subject matter in or around Odessa?
You know, my country itself has a lot of impressive and dramatic places, and I don’t have to travel a lot to find something interesting to capture. When I’m finished with all these places, I will travel more.
What are three qualities you aim to capture in each photograph?
First of all it must have its’ soul, or mood. Without this, any perfect and beautiful picture is nothing. I try to imagine the whole scene in details, even the smell of that moment, before taking any photos. So that in the end it is easy to convey the proper feeling from the shot, and so I always get what I want from it.
Now it’s also very important to have excellent quality in the execution – in colors, details and so on – because these picture are often used for printing and other purposes, where the quality of image is the most important demand.
And then, finally, it’s really great when pictures have their own style, so you can say who’s taken them exactly. So I create them with a number of certain features such as subjects, colours or just a known point of view.
Thank you so much for the interview Olia, we are huge fans of your work!
Check out Pishchanska’s portfolio at 500px.com/pischanskaya
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