Thisset
Who are you?
I am a photo artist. With an art education, I later started studying design and then photography and video. Now and for about eight years now, I have been combining photography and digital drawing to create my commercial art projects and single personal works.
What are you most convinced of?
I am convinced that in order to live happily, you have to do what you want, regardless of anyone's criticism or opinion. Whether you are a strange shocking artist, a quiet nerdy scientist, or a carefree DJ. But it's very important to listen to your conscience. It is conscience that gives each of us an understanding of what is good and what is bad. In this way you will live in harmony and not change yourself.
What gives you the most joy?
I feel most satisfied when I do things according to my feelings and everything works out well. If you take a short look at one of my days, it will look like this: I don't wake up too early but also not too late, around 9:00 AM. I feed the screaming cat Alice, and then I keep lying in bed for about 30 minutes watching interesting publications in Behance, Pinterest and Instagram. Then I make myself breakfast and coffee and sit down for ongoing projects. After working for about two hours, I go to a coffee shop by the sea and then swim on a board with an oar or, if there are waves, ride the Surf. After that I either go back home or to a coffee shop to work on or go for a walk in the forest. This relaxed lifestyle makes me very happy, but I also keep myself toned.
How did you find yourself?
As I said in the beginning, I started my creative journey through drawing. Since childhood, I have been interested in everything unusual and mysterious. My main interests included science fiction (both films and animation and books) as well as ancient history: dinosaurs, Egypt, Maya, Sumerians, space and the underwater world. My mother helped me more than anyone and was the first to do so. She is a very creative person and gave me everything in her power to feel free and do what I really want. She saw that I was making various achievements in drawing and gave me to the Art Gymnasium. I studied academic subjects but that wasn't enough for me and later I started to study graphic design (I made posters for parties of my friends using my drawings as a basis) then I started to take pictures and not rushing to look for myself. At one point I came across a UV lamp and immediately started experimenting with this unique light source. And a year later I had already created my first project which consisted of two photographs. These photos were later licensed by Apple Itunes to be used as a cover for the official pop music playlist that the world has seen.
What makes you angry?
It always makes me angry if I don't have time to do what I have planned by the end of the day. Most of the time it's not my fault, but sometimes I just get distracted and put off more important things. In other words, it can be said that sometimes I miss 24 hours a day.
What is the strangest situation that happened to you?
There were quite a few such things. One of them happened this summer when I was swimming on a board with a paddle. I noticed a cloud slightly above the horizon that was clearer than usual. When I looked at it, I realized that it was not a cloud, but an aeroplane. The thing was that this plane was hovering and had not moved for about 30 seconds. I watched very carefully and made sure that the plane didn't turn around and didn't change its position in any way (I initially assumed that it turned around before landing and that gave the illusion that it had frozen), but this plane was horizontal on the side the whole time I watched it. A little later, I was distracted by the waves with my eyes down and when I looked at the plane again, I did not see it in an ogm place. The plane moved sharply, in 2 seconds, to the left and normally descended towards the airport. I even filmed it on my phone and shared this video with Stories in my Instagram.
What do you think about the interpretation of art? Do you want your art to be interpreted?
I believe that any display of art is too free energy to expect anything concrete from it. The only thing I want to happen is for my photos to be interesting to potential clients so that I can continue to make a living out of it for my own pleasure. At the moment, all my projects are very interesting and somehow reflect my inner world. I mean that my work gives me pleasure and I want things to stay that way.
What do you think of the Susan Sontag’s phrase: ”In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art”?
I am not familiar with this writer, but I will try to analyse it and answer it. I understand that people need to be able to distract themselves from the constant analysis of others and become servants of their own desires. After all, analyzing what is happening to us often means being dependent on someone's opinion. Constantly monitoring your actions and actions. It is all very tiring and distracting from harmony. Instead of Hermeneutics, there is erotica. By eroticism, I mean not only eroticism itself, but a more frivolous and relaxed approach to being.
What would be your perfect environment for making your art?
At the moment I am in an almost ideal environment. All I need is a world without borders to be able to travel easily everywhere. But it doesn't depend on me.
If you could choose a historical period and be there with the help of a time machine - what kind of time and place would it be?
I would not want to move forever at any time. I really like everything that almost happens to me in my life in this world at this time. But if it were a temporary journey, I would choose many time points. Several of them:
- Prehistoric times when life had just begun to get infected.
2. Ancient Rome/Greece
3. Middle Ages
4. 17-18th century in Russia
5. Early 90s
What is your dream project?
One of the projects I would really like to do is to shoot a feature film with a deep plot, the most beautiful lighting, local computer graphics, a mystical and simultaneously psychedelic atmosphere and of course a very impressive soundtrack. I would like to do all this myself (except for some of the assistants and actors).
What is your favorite place that inspires you the most?
At the moment my favourite place is in Sochi, which is a rocky forest with a river and waterfalls in Khosta.
What jobs have you done other than being a photographer?
I worked as a street artist and interior designer. Tattoo artist, As a graphic designer, DJ. I still perform at local parties and sometimes travel as an invited guest. For example, last year I went to St. Petersburg to play a DJ set at the opening of The North Face flagship shop. At the moment and for about 5 years now, I am 90% photographer and director of music videos.
What are your favorite books/movies/persons/photographers etc? Any recommendations :)
I watch a lot of different films. Scientific fiction (my favourite genre) as well as dramas and thrillers and documentary films. Some of the films that I highlight to myself and re-examine over and over again: Space Odyssey 2001, THX 1138, Altered States, Beyond the black rainbow, Interstellar, Arrival, Annihilation, She, Under the skin, Animated film: Akira, Overhanging from a valley of winds, Wild Planet, Memories, Gandahar, Lords of Time, Paprika, True sadness. And much more... I don't read much at the moment, but on the recommendation of my friend Nikita Replyansky, I started listening to an audio book by the Chinese writer Liu Qimin, The Three Body Challenge. From the physical books, I will particularly highlight the writer Clifford Simak (City), Larry Niven (Defender), and Joanna Rowling (Harry Potter), and of course folk Slavic fairy tales (e.g. the immortal cat or the bun. I find them very mystical with some secret meaning/ message for modern humans).
How do you come up with the images and ideas you want to do in your photoshoots? How does your creative process looks like?
The process is usually inconceivable. I just want to take a picture of something and then edit it to create a unique effect. The subjects for my shootings are always different: girls, plants, landscapes, cities, insects, interesting objects, abstraction. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to photograph and I do my best to do it. I always bring my projects to the right conclusion even if I face unforeseen technical difficulties.
Do you come up with some stories when making your photography? Could you tell one if so?
From time to time I come up with a meaning/concept for my projects. For example, I have a project at Behance with reflections and reflexes in cars that is called
"GHOSTS”
https://www.behance.net/gallery/89410261/GHOSTS
(https://www.behance.net/gallery/89410261/GHOSTS)
I wrote such a mini story/context to him:
I noticed elusive ghosts that were trapped inside the steel beasts and i caught every one of them. Now they are free.
Or in the project "WET NEON"
https://www.behance.net/gallery/60470817/WET-NEON
(https://www.behance.net/gallery/60470817/WET-NEON)
In my opinion all the most beautiful and really valuable things are right before our eyes from the very childhood, and probably for this reason we stop to notice it when we grow up. Seeing the splendor in things that other people call dull or even unpleasant is a very controversial gift, but at the same time wonderful. In this set I want to present to your attention the beauty of the defects of ordinary roads in an ordinary city after the ordinary rain.
What kind of people inspires you?
Ash Thorp, Hayao Miyazaki, Moebius, Gaspar Noe
Where do you want to travel to and why?
Kamchatka, Tokyo, Iceland, Paris. I want to visit all these places first of all, because for me these are very inspiring locations in order to increase the range of my sensations and, of course, to create new projects
What is your strength?
My strength is that I am very observant and lucky. I am lucky to see so much beauty around me that fills me with a huge amount of energy. My creativity is focused on multiplying this energy.
What advice could you give to young artists?
I can only give advice that I myself follow. Being open to a lot of new things that come my way. To step out of your comfort zone when it potentially takes you to a new level. (No one knows for sure what you will get out of your actions, but the risk is a kind of test of man's value as a creature in the universe. Falling into the unknown in search of yourself). To be a fan of just yourself and no one else. To be the best version of yourself.
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