Trending Photography News No. 17: Kristina Rozhkova talks about the difficulties of being a photographer in today's Russia

"My photos seem to scare people in Russia. People are scared because we live in an age where we're constantly being searched. It's considered dangerous to be associated with me."

These are the words of Kristina Rozhkova, a Russian female photographer who has attracted attention with the release of two photo books this year, "The Bliss of Girlhood" (ZONE) and "Dear My Friends" (Korean publisher BOCBOK).

She spoke to us via Zoom from Russia's second city, Saint Petersburg. While studying at the Saint Petersburg photography academy, Fotografika, Roshkova was recognized by the editors of Calvert Journal, an online magazine that covers Eastern European culture, and FK Magazine, a Latvian photography magazine. After her photos were published in these two magazines, she began to receive inquiries and be featured prominently in Western media outlets such as iD and PhotoVogue, a project to introduce international new photographers.

"When I first decided to make a photo book, I already had three or four offers, so I could choose whichever I wanted."

When she began working on her first book, The Bliss, Roshkova was a complete novice photographer.

"The truth is, I didn't originally intend to take up photography. When I started taking photos for 'The Bliss,' I didn't have a clear goal in mind. An acquaintance handed me a camera and told me to 'take photos!' That's when I was drawn into the world of photography. I studied philosophy at university and was in a world where I pursued abstract concepts, so I didn't have the opportunity to put concepts into practice in a real-world form. That's why I was excited by the immediacy of photography, its ability to produce results immediately. Capturing a moment, capturing life, and preserving beauty. I thought of photography as a time capsule of the essence of a moment."

But despite her professed lack of knowledge about photography, Rošková has a vast knowledge of film.

"I'm a big fan of art films. When I was a student, I studied Greek tragedy in the works of Pier Paolo Pasolini, and I also loved Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, and Carl Theodor Dreyer. I also like Japanese directors Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Hiroshi Teshigahara. The films that had the biggest influence on The Bliss were Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, Joel Cellier's Little Flowers of Evil, and Bergman's The Virgin Spring. I also liked Jaromír Jireš's The Dark Bible, and I was fascinated by its surreal world."

The Bliss, which features girls between the ages of 9 and 12, subtly expresses the influence of these films.

"The world of this photobook is a dual world between two mirrors, where humans maintain a balance between them. That's why there are a lot of gymnastics poses in the book. With girls, it's possible that they will either fall towards kindness or aggression in the future."

There is also a controversial topic in Russian society: LGBTQ. In 2013, the Russian government passed a law banning homosexual propaganda.

"There are censorship issues in Russia. I don't focus on LGBTQ themes, but I do have some work on those topics. That's why it's difficult to publish a photo book. Even if I create the layout myself, Russian printing companies reject it. I've been told many times that they're afraid to exhibit my work. I had an exhibition recently, but I was unable to show most of my work. In the end, I was only able to show photos of strawberries and soap bubbles. In Russia today, my work is emasculated and can only be exhibited in a bare, cored form."

British curator Christine Serchia, who learned of Roškova through an introduction from a curator at ZONE, invited her to hold a solo exhibition at her gallery, SERCHIA, in January 2013. Serchia had this to say about the exhibition:

"The work resonated with all visitors, but especially women. Rošková transforms darkness into light. She takes something we see every day and makes it inspiring and addictive. Rošková is in a difficult situation, but I think it's important that we understand our differences, hopefully prevent conflict, and gain a deeper understanding and acceptance of what makes us human."

When we spoke to Marco Frattaruolo, the journalist who published Rošková's interview in iD Italy, he said that the article had received a lot of criticism.

"As soon as I posted it, I was inundated with comments from pro-Ukrainian people accusing me of being a Russian collaborator. This criticism is absurd. A new generation of pro-Western Russian artists has to deal with the difficult situation of war, suffer prejudice and lose opportunities to present their work. I believe that art is a means to break down cultural barriers."

Now Roshkova is considering defecting.

"I can't grow as an artist unless I seek asylum abroad. I love Japanese culture and would be happy to seek asylum in Japan, but I think it would be difficult to do so, so I'm also considering the United States and Argentina. When the Ukrainian war started, no one in the world wanted to commission work from Russian creators. But now it's different. I've recently been invited to Italy, I've released a photo book in South Korea, and I've been invited to an exhibition in Germany. People who understand art don't care about nationality. We young Russian artists are hostages. Russian artists are being held hostage by this war."

This month's top 10 trending photos