What remains of us if we strip away everything we think we know?
In this void of black velvet, there is no time, no flesh, no familiar signs of reality. Only shadow, and a sudden intrusion of light. A woman’s figure, dissolved into darkness, with a single fragment illuminated—like a sliver of knowledge piercing the opacity of the unknown. This is not a portrait. It is a diagram of the soul.
According to Sigmund Freud, consciousness is but a thin layer atop the mind—visible, controlled, deceptively familiar. Beneath it lies the vast architecture of the unconscious: desires repressed, instincts unspoken, conflicts unresolved. The body in the image mirrors this structure—a partial form exposed to light, the rest submerged in psychological depths.
Yet there is no battle between light and shadow here. The darkness is complete, sovereign. The light appears not as illumination, but as incision. It wounds like truth, emerging suddenly, briefly—an agonizing moment of self-recognition. It does not warm. It reveals.
The “perfect woman” in these works is not an aesthetic fantasy, but a metaphor for internal paradox. She is complete only in fragmentation—monumental and disappearing, serene and trembling. Her presence echoes the film The Perfect Human by Jørgen Leth, where perfection is portrayed not as salvation, but as a state of emptiness and existential dislocation. Similarly, the geometry of light here does not bring harmony—it sharpens the fracture.
Can we govern ourselves when the self we seek to govern is merely a fragment, drifting on the sea of the unconscious? Can we know ourselves when every act of knowing only scrapes the surface? The female figure does not beg to be understood. She withdraws. She knows: knowledge cuts deep.
This project is not about photographing bodies—it maps the edge of awareness. The absence of light becomes its truest language. The camera here is not a lens, but an eye turned inward, scanning the shadows for signs of meaning. Each shaft of light is not an answer, but a question cast into the dark.
And yet, a subtle optimism glimmers in these depths. The body reaches for the light—not in despair, but in desire.
Not in escape from darkness, but in the will to move through it.
For the human being who seeks self-knowledge is not lost—but expanding. To know oneself is to chart an entire inner cosmos.
And every flicker of light—no matter how brief—is not the end, but an invitation to begin.
exhibition in the gallery «Willy Brandt Haus» Berlin, Germany
first prize in the photography contest «SONY World Photography Awards 2017» in the category «Portraiture»
FOTOCULT magazine The magazine has been issued in Rome and distributed around Italy and other countries of Europe since 2003.
exhibition in «Art Dynasty Gallery». Geneva, Switzerland
«Somerset House». London, UK;
”Light. Shadows. Perfect Woman” Photography Series
Unique and famous “Light. Shadows. Perfect Woman” photography series has received many international awards, including the Sony World Photography Awards, where it received the first prize in the “Portrait” category and a nomination for the International Photographer of the Year. The photos from the series were published in dozens of professional publishers, including on the covers of well-known magazines such as Photo Press (Germany), "Foto Cult" (Italy) and many others.
“Light. Shadows. Perfect Woman” photography series has been exhibited in dozens of different galleries and museums around the world, including Somerset House, where the works of photographer Martin Parr were displayed at the same time.
“Light. Shadows. Perfect Woman”
Portrait # 1
2016
Edition of 8 — 60 × 60 cm (≈ 24 × 24 in)
$4 000 USD
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308 gsm
Certificate of Authenticity: signed & stamped; matching edition label affixed to verso.
