Kristina Sergeeva

What impact do you think your childhood has on your photography?

I think it has a very big influence. Unfortunately, I don't consider my childhood a happy one. I was always surrounded by alcohol, my parents quarreling, I was a lonely child. Photography at school became my guide to the world of art, and creativity has been a way of escapism for me for a long time. None of my family members understand what I do, but they are glad I took a different path. Recently I realized that perhaps the melancholy moods of my photographs are closely related to the black and white view of the world that I inherited from childhood.

Please tell us about your process and vision?

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Photography for me is an intimate process. I don't like taking photos when I'm in companies, I need to be alone or with like minded photographers. In the process, I am used to giving myself completely to inspiration until I get exhausted. I love new places where there are no people, lots of free space and silence. Now I've changed my focus to constructing images, it's a different process, more fun. But going adrift with a camera is still my favorite, irreplaceable process. I love to read into the details, to find what reflects my thoughts at the moment. I usually know what I want to photograph, what location or detail. I love working with maps and exploring the terrain. I frame reality into its constituent parts, thus formulating my statement. The house is wooden, reflecting the traditions of Russian folklore. The context imposes a double message, that the present of my country is covered by harsh actions on the part of the authorities. And such a context devalues this traditionalism. That's why I make a highlighted shot, spared of the details. Context is always very important to me; what it depicts, where it was taken and at what time.

What challenges do you face as an artist? How do you overcome low periods of motivation or creative ruts?

The main difficulty I faced was always fear of the result. I was worried that I was always going in the wrong direction, creating wrong frames that didn't fit the subject matter. But then I realized that I had driven myself into too rigid boundaries, and sometimes you can relax. I now separate myself as a freelance artist and as an artist making an effort to create a thoughtful series. I believe that the unconscious perception of the world is just as good in an intuitive way of creating a frame as if you come up with a shot in advance.

After February 24, everything changed in me. I used to doubt myself and what I was doing, and I often found myself devaluing myself. As soon as these terrible events happened, I realized that I had to do something. I don't know what the future holds, I have a lot of fear, I don't know what will happen in a month. So I'm doing it while it's being done. Also anger is great fuel for action.