Elizaveta Porodina

Following the exhibition tours in Stockholm, New York and Berlin, Fotografiska Shanghai unveils the exihibition Un/Masked presented by Munich-based, Moscow-born artist Elizaveta Porodina. Through the interplay of light, color, and shadow, her abstract and surrealist photographs reflect her inner world.

"I am curious about what people look like beyond their appearances, what kind of masks we wear to face the world, and who we are behind those masks."

Elizaveta Porodina

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Elizaveta Porodina is currently one of the leading names in fashion photography globally. She has collaborated with a multitype of renowned brands such as Dior, Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giorgio Armani, Moncler, and as the visual partner of Vogue, Conde Nast, Elle, Numero and other fashion magazines. Although coming from a professional background in clinical psychology, she decided to pursue a professional career in photography. Her creative style is influenced by Soviet constructivist painter and sculptors, as well as some Western masters, forming a unique and mysterious photographic style. Her work has been showcased in international exhibitions and has received multiple awards. Porodina’s influence extends far beyond photography, and she is considered one of the artists blurring the lines between art and fashion photography.

This exhibition covers 150 artistic photographic works by Elizaveta Porodina and will be a moment of "gaze" between the audience and the artist, allowing visitors to witness her artistic talent and creations intimately, and to step into her varied emotional landscapes.

"I am curious about what people look like beyond their appearances, what kind of masks we wear to face the world, and who we are behind those masks."

—— Elizaveta Porodina

In Un/Masked, the artist invites us to peer behind the masks, holding up a mirror to ourselves. Trained as a clinical psychologist and with a keen interest in emotion-driven behavior, she chose photography as her artistic medium to interact with people. Each project has been, and continues to be, an experiment in which she attempts to combine contradictory elements. She sees people as unique universes yearning to connect with others.

During the exhibition, Fotografiska Shanghai will curate a series of programs and events, including the artist talk with Porodina, aimed at giving the audience a deeper understanding of her creative philosophy and artistic style. In addition, the artist's visual publication COLOR MANIA will be presented. This emotionally charged and vividly colored volume, photographed by Elizaveta Porodina, showcasing her signature timeless, painterly style and capturing CAROLINA HERRERA's portrayal of the modern woman – fearless and captivating.

ABOUT ARTIST

Born in Moscow 1987, Elizaveta Porodina grew up in post-Soviet Russia but has been based in Munich, Germany, with her family in the late 1990s, at the age of twelve as a so-called “quota refugee” from Russia. Feeling displaced, isolated, and struggling to build friendships with peers, painting became her outlet: “After school, I’d rush home to paint for hours.” Inspired by the works of Henri Matisse, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mikhail Vrubel, and Pablo Picasso, which she discovered in museums and art books in her family’s living room with her mother, she worked with bold colors and expressive faces; an artistic practice that continues to resonate in her works today. While she no longer paints with brushes, her subjects come to life through carefully arranged sets and artistic lighting.

Coming from a theoretical background in clinical psychology, Porodina speaks with a distinctive photographic language — mastering colour, movement and emotion. Sought after for her personal style and creative visual language, major fashion houses compete to hire her for some of their most coveted global campaigns. Porodina has collaborated with a multitude of renowned brands and magazines, her work has been showcased in international exhibitions and has received multiple awards. Porodina’s influence extends far beyond photography, and she is considered one of the artists blurring the lines between art and fashion photography. Porodina works natively with new techniques and social platforms and has constantly acquired new ways of expressing her ideas photographically. Collaborating closely with her models — or muses, as she calls them — she describes the moment the picture is taken as an exchange, almost like a magical ritual.