Kyiv, Ukraine, February of 2017, -1C outside.
That was a photo session for my friend Yulia. Usually, people want to relief something new from themselves, when asking you about personal sessions. And that day we born some new wild Yulia from normal city citizen!

The idea of being both naturally wild and naturally civilized is really close to me. I wanted to make something spontaneous for my model and give her new conditions to feel. And also that was inner Yulia's request for changes. Outside was wet winter's end — not the best time for outdoor photo sessions. But also it was perfect for Nordic style pics with austere mood, that is totally in connection with nature and its cycles. Nordic which style with near-monochrome gamma helped us to show inner movements of freezing girl, that is ready for changes. Also, she is brave enough for changes and dancing with a snow against of hiding.

That time I used my old Canon450D with Canon 50mm 1,8f. As a location, I chose Kievan Botanical Garden (Kyiv. Ukraine) because it was the nearest place with wild forest.
Body art was made by myself during 10 minutes among the trees. We wished for snow to fall, and it started. Can guess, Nordic gods were cheerful that day))
Yes, Yulia was totally frozen after first 10 minutes, and that repeated for 5-6 times. But how sincere she was!
Postproduction was made with Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.

I think, "Winter girl" caught its goals for me and my model. That was a more personal project, maybe more art therapy, and it was successful. Yulia didn't get ill, but was happy!
For me, this photo session was a pleasure of seeing that livefull strong nature, that lives in every woman, no matter how calmly and smiley she is.

Polina Zabizhko

I was born in Ukraine, but honestly, I live mostly in a backpack for the last 2 years.
Photographer, traveler, writer.

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