PhotoSynthesis XII, 2021 ,25 x 30 cm, Unique 
PhotoSynthesis XV, 2021 , 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis X, 2021, 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis VI, 2021, 25 x 30 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis IX, 2021, 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis XXIV, 2021, 20 x 25 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis XIV, 2021, 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis IV, 2021, 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis XVIII, 2021 , 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis XVI, 2021 , 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis XVIII, 2021 , 30 x 40 cm, Unique
PhotoSynthesis XVII, 2021 , 30 x 40 cm, Unique
My practice consists of camera-less photography, created by hand in the photography colour darkroom, using only translucent natural materials, light, time and photosensitive paper. Challenging the preconception that the camera photographs the world that already exists, I decided to remove the camera from the process. The darkroom becomes my camera. I step inside and become part of the mechanism. I work in complete darkness, when some senses are muted and others are intensified. Trading my visual senses for the physical, I investigate the very edges of perception. My work explores the boundaries of photography and questions prevailing values and hierarchies in society today.
PhotoSynthesis (2021) explores the intersection and interconnection between nature and humanity. It points back to the beginning of the history of photography and life on earth. The work continues the early tradition of art and nature. Speaking to the conditions of being, this work is a physical embodiment of the natural world and of light.
Being in lockdown during Covid compelled me to reconsider what is essential for human existence and what is peripheral. My work responds to the present environment: a world of lockdowns, distancing and limited movement. My work reflects the urgency of this natural connection and questions whether we can live a purely urban life. At its root, my work explores the sense of belonging and embodiment. Who does nature belong to and what is humanity’s responsibility to the natural world. What is it to consciously live in and embody this world?
My materials are fresh, alive and draw the viewer’s attention to their complex ecology, the many patterns and mechanisms of which are also inherent to humans. There is a universality to these natural life-forms.
© Svetlana Talanova. 2021
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