21-year-old Moscow based photography student of the Rodchenko Art School, Ekaterina Odina began taking in life with a camera at the age of 13. Nurturing and building on her expression she explains that it took her up to four years to push deliberate aesthetics in her shoots.
“In photos, I express my opinion nonverbally. I can transmit what I feel but can’t articulate. If someone likes my photos, it means they understand them on some subconscious level and that’s the most important thing for me.”
Ekaterina’s repertoire is rather extensive for someone of her age with her creativity guided by what she describes as her personal feelings and associations with the world around her as well as intrinsic emotion. Seeking out intimacy in her play with the lens she enjoys the curvature of the human body which is a point of departure in her work.
Working both with analogue and digital methods her work touches on themes such as self-acceptance and violence. “Sometimes it’s emotional outbursts that I can’t control. I find a knot of social, psychological and subconscious aspects more interesting than just one simple message.”
Colour correction takes preference to light. Frontal flash is a last resort. Low contrast is sought after. A BDSM quirk meets an Edward Scissorhands like influence. Extravagance is key. Guns. Balaclavas. Ankle boot breakfast. Spies seem to take over one set of images. Ekaterina’s images are uncomfortably beautiful. Masterfully conducted they speak loudly to violence and pain in some instances. Her work can only be described as fatally attractive. A cult photographer in the making.
