Magic carpet.
Wake up the child in yourself and go on a trip on a magic carpet in pursuit of your dream.
Creative Director, Ph, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling, MUA by Maria Kuznetsova.
Dead flowers are the only memory you left me…
Art direction, Photography, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Erica Ishida.
Decadence.
“This series titled Decadence is the sublimation of thoughts, feelings and emotions that torment my body, brain, heart and soul,” says photographer Natalia Samoilova. Right before the global narrative turned to racism and the systemic oppression Black people have endured throughout history, all the news were about the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still growing despite some countries are slowly coming out of quarantine. Reflecting on the current situation of our world, the Belarusian photographer created this artistic series to hold a mirror up to society as well as to exorcise those bad feelings, thoughts and sensations she was feeling.
You’ve always brought me flowers…
Art direction, Photography, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Anzhelika Barchan.
The treachery of Images.
Art direction, Photography, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Anzhelika Barchan.
Vogue Germany: print issue November 2019.
Vogue Germany: print issue May 2020.
Rose in the glass.
Art direction, Photography by Natalia Samoilova.
Style by Juliya Verbickaya.
MUAH by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Modeling by Lina at Dandy Model Management.
Girl with peaches.
Print issue #7
Art direction, Photography by Natalia Samoilova.
Styling by Arina Orlova.
MUAH by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Modeling by Ieva at Moon Models Latvia.
Glasses.
Carry me wind away
To an alien planet.
Where the sky is black,
Where I won’t be found.
Team:
Art Direction, Photography, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling and body painting by Erica Ishida.
Art Direction, Photography, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Anzhelika Barchan.
Photography by Natalia Samoilova.
MUAH by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Modeling by Marta at Dandy Model Management Riga.
Fly me to the Moon.
Art direction, Photography, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Anna Dondik NAGORNY Model Management.
Manifesto.
” I was inspired by the song of Pink Floyd band: “Another brick in the wall”.
Femininity, sexuality, diseases, war, motherhood and revival. The social grinder is still in operation but the hope there is…“
Art Direction, Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Demon$.
Ph: Samoilova Natalia.
Style: Julia Zahhartsenko.
Assistant: Evgeniya Kovaleva.
MUA: Galina Dedkova.
Hair: Irina Shpakovskaya.
Avitaminosis.
Spring is on the doorstep and the senses are sharpened…
Art direction, Style, Hair, Post production: Natalia Samoilova.
Photographer: Alexander Grebenev.
MUA: Galina Dedkova.
Model: Evgeniya Kovaleva.
Art Direction, Ph, Style, Hair: Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Eugeniy.
In Bloom.
Art Direction, Ph, Style, Hair: Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Erica Ishida.
Slumber party.
Art Direction, Ph, Style: Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Erica Ishida.
The Scarlet Flower.
Art Direction, Ph, Style, MUAH: Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Anzhelika Barchan.
Equal means equal…
Art direction, Ph, Style: NATALIA SAMOILOVA
MUAH: Lubov Rozenfeld
Model: Liza from NAGORNY MODELS MANAGEMENT
Melancholy.
Ph, Art direction: Natalia Samoilova.
Fashion: Juliya Verbickaya.
MUAH: Eva Herbohan.
Models: Daniela and Laura from Starsystem Agency.
Take me away from here…
Art direction, Ph: Natalia Samoilova.
Style: Anny Dream.
MUAH: Annuita Kochergina.
Models: Krill, Anastasia, Maria from SKYMODELS MANAGEMENT Saint-Petersburg.
Everything that is dressed in the past
I can't and I'll not
If you remember somewhere near
Take me away, take me away from here.
It is the wind wasted it all
Inattentively, out of nowhere
If this is remembered inopportunely
Take me away, take me away from here.
All I could know
I burned...
Who I could become
If I could become...
All that replied to myself
I'll forget by accident
And now nobody is third
Take me away, take me away from here.
Ice Ice Baby.
Art direction, Ph, Style: Natalia Samoilova.
MUAH: Lubov Rozenfeld.
Model: Yana from Nagorny Models Management.
Right now, the world is your oyster. Shimmering pearlescent eyes meets 80s neon brushed-up brows, and industrial paper-clip braids are clashed with the dreamiest baby-blush lips. Yes, delve into a world where under-the-sea mermaid tones get the futuristic treatment, with this brand new beauty editorial…
THE NIGHT OF SAD COUNTENANCE
Art direction, Ph, Style, MUAH: Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Anzhelika Barchan.
Garments: the Mogilev Drama Theatre.
I know, - says the knight of the sad countenance — that the path of virtue is very narrow, and the path of Vice broad and spacious. And I also know that the goals and limits of Vice and virtue is different. Because the way of Vice ends with death, and path of virtue ends with life. But not the life that sooner or later will have the end, but the life that will never have the end.
A dreamer and idealist who does not spare his life for the sake of protecting other people is a knight of the sad countenance. He is madly in love and, like any real knight, he is ready for feats for the sake of his beloved. Feat for feat, here and not know this world is his motto for every day. He bravely fights all the enemies encountered on his way: windmills, lion... He believes in the purity and nobility of his deeds. Yeah, he may be crazy, but to perceive this world normally, you have to be a little crazy.
Is there a lover of our knight in the real world or is it part of his fantasy? Who knows, and whether is it important, because it is like a dream that leads him through life, giving strength and faith in a better future....
Aftertaste.
Art direction, Ph, Style, MUAH: Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Anzhelika Barchan.
Birth of Aphrodite.
Art direction, Photography, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
Assistant and Make up by Galina Dedkova.
Modeling by Erica Ishida.
Manifesto.
Inspired by multi-screen film installation «Manifesto» directed by Julian Rosefeldt.
“I’m against action.
I’m for continuous contradiction, for affirmation.
Too I am neither for nor against.
And I do not explain because I hate common sense.
I’m writing a manifesto because I have nothing to say.
I speak only of myself since I do not wish to convince.
I have no right to drag others into my river.
I oblige no one to follow me.
And everyone practices his art in his own way, if he knows the joy that rises like arrows to the astral layers, or that other joy that goes down into the minds of corpses flowers and fertile spasms.
Does anyone think he has found a psychic base common to all mankind?
How can one expect to put order into the chaos that constitutes that infinite and shapeless variation…”
Art direction, Ph: Natalia Samoilova.
Style: Ivonna Sabine Damhrehte.
MUAH: Lubov Rozenfeld.
Model: Vita from Dandy Model Management Riga.
Art direction, Ph, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Erika.
They are among us…
Art direction, Ph, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Polina.
Summer in the City.
Art direction, Photography, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
Make up by Galina Dedkova.
Modeling by Maria from Nagorny Models Management.
April.
Art direction, Ph, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Anastasia.
Shegurochka.
Young girl that always accompanies Ded Moroz, She is young, smart, beautiful and hardworking.
Ph, Art Direction, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Assistent: Lidia Kovaleva.
Model: Anna Dondik NAGORNY Model Management.
"Three milestones of my aesthetic: self reflection, sublimation and fine art,” Belarus based photographer Natalia Samoilova tells Hunger. “I have a lot of questions and I try to find answers to them.”
“I, like a lot of people, live in not an ideal country,” she adds. “Where there are a lot of problems that I can’t ignore or pretend they don’t exist or I don’t see them. I know, I see, I feel, I react and do what I can. But it creates a lot of negative energy that I sublimate into my creative life. A lot of people ask me why I always talk about negative emotions, why I prefer sadness to laughter in my frame. I always quote the words of Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. It’s true for each person individually.
Embracing the darkness (instead of running from it) Samoilova creates super surreal and colour-pop visuals exploring the complexities of the human psyche. “Art has no borders, no languages, no nationalities, no sex, etc. It can and it changes our world, people to the best. I think art makes us human. Art now is very essential than ever before.”
Art direction, Ph, Style: Natalia Samoilova.
Decadence.
I'm painting shoe polish on my lips.
I adore the color black…
Art direction, Ph, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Snegurochka.
Ph, Art Direction, Style, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Assistent: Lidia Kovaleva.
Model: Anna Dondik NAGORNY Model Management.
Natalia Samoilova is an art-fashion photographer based in Belarus. Her works have been published in different art and fashion magazines around the world: Vogue Italy, Elle Croatia and so on. She was honorably mentioned and a winner of various prestigious photo competitions. Her works were exhibited in Saatchi Art Gallery in London and also during different events dedicated to fashion and photography: Fashion Night Rome and Milan; PhotoVogue festival Milan, Slideluck Napoli London and others.
Her works take a sensual and emotional perspective of human nature. They capture beauty of simple things. They connect cultural inheritance and present days with the modern life.
INTERVIEW
AGB: How long have you been a photographer, and do you mind sharing your earthly years?
NS: I’ve been a professional photographer for about 8 years. But I’m also an economist. It took me about 12 years (education and work in this field) to realize that my soul belongs to a creative life. I am 36 years old.
AGB: Where do you live and were you born there?
NS: I was born and live in Belarus that used to be a part of former USSR.
AGB: Is any one else in your family artistic?
NS: No, I am the first and only member of my family who decided to dedicate their life to photography, to become an artist.
AGB: What inspired you to shoot the Twins, and in this location?
NS: I’ve known these girls for quite a long time, and have shot them several times. But all previous projects did not revealed this fragile connection they have between them. Maybe, they needed time to get to know me better and trust me with something quite intimate and delicate, or maybe I needed time to find the right location, theme, clothes and so on.
I shot the girls in the art studio because they are painters and this is one of the classes where they studied. I decided that is great place for this project.
AGB: How is the fashion in Belarus?
NS: It's quite young, but very promising.
AGB: What about a sustainable fashion movement?
NS: No, we don't have such kind of community. But a lot of our designers use natural fabrics: cotton, flax (our country produces it and this fabric is a part of our cultural inheritance), wool (our country also produces it) and others.
AGB: What you think of the crazy political chaos that’s happening in the US, and around the world?
NS: I prefer to keep a distance.
When your girlfriend is sick...
Ph, Art direction, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
MUA by Galina Dedkova.
Model: Dana Titovich NAGORNY Model Management.
Project "The Swan princess" is selected by
i-D magazine among its favorite that was created in response to Inez and Vinoodh's collaborative brief, Creating desire.
The link.
The Swan Princess.
A tale of hidden beauty and fragile balances.
Ph, Art direction by Natalia Samoilova.
Style by Juliya Verbickaya.
Make up and Hair by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Model Marija Anna. DANDY Model Management Riga.
Colour.
I am colored, weird and dark...
Ph, Art direction by Natalia Samoilova.
Style by Silvija Rudzika.
Make up and Hair by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Model Madara Nusbauma.
Color.
The series is “an investigation of colour and dusty part of human soul.”
Ph, Art direction by Natalia Samoilova.
Style by Silvija Rudzika.
Make up and Hair by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Model: Madara Nusbauma.
They are among us...
It is a visual investigation about the existence of mermaids.
Ph, Art direction, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Make up and Hair by Lubov Rozenfeld.
Jewelry by Victoria Fomenko.
Model: Anija and Gabriela WUNDERKINDcasting.
They are among us.
It is spring... It is the right time for changes, discoveries, love, beauty... It is just the beginning....
Ph, Art Direction by Natalia Samoilova.
Assistant : Jelena Osmolovska.
Style, Storyteller : Silvija Rudzika
MUA & Hair : Lubov Rozenfeld
Model : Madara Malmane Dandy Model Riga
This is the next part about mermaids from project “They are among us….”
They live in a lake in the city park where people like to spend they free time swimming, sunbathing, reading in the shadow. These mermaids like to follow people and random passerbys and sometimes they steal their clothes for fun...
Ph by Natalia Samoilova.
Style by Veronica Karitskaya.
MUA by Anastasia Pahranichnaya.
Hair by Ekaterina Barazna.
Models: Caroline L-MODELS Model Management,
Kate NAGORNY Model Management.
They are among us.
It is a mystical and philosophical project about strange, sometimes frightening but very beautiful and attractive creatures. This project one of the attempt to pay attention to our roots, to our history, who are we and where we come from. May be even to think about death and life....
Ph, Art direction by Natalia Samoilova.
Assistant: Jelena Osmolovska
Style and Storyteller: Silvija Rudzika
MUAH: Lubov Rozenfeld
Model: Madara Mailman DANDY Models management Riga
Issue 14: July 2017
Tiny things.
Philosophical still life project about questions of life.
Issue 3: October 2014
Different.
I am not like you.
Ph, Art direct, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Model Shota Kvastiani.
Issue 2: July 2014
Swirling seeds.
Still life project about beauty and fragility of flowers.
Issue 8: end of Summer 2015
Never leave you.
Ph, Art direct, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Models: Maria Kuznetsova and Ksenia Kovaleva.
She lives the lonely life.
Ph, Art direct, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Models: Anastasia Lappo.
Issue 7: Spring 2015
31st Spring.
Ph, Art direct, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Self-portrait project.
Spring is coming.
Ph, Art direct, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Model Ekaterina Popova.
Natalia Samoilova one of the winer of the photo contest organized by SLIDELUCK NAPLES.
Lilac Elephant.
I just dream about...
Ph, Art direction, Fashion, Beauty by Natalia Samoilova.
Model: Dana Titovich NAGORNY Model Management.
The last UNICORN.
Ph, Art direction, Style, Hair by Natalia Samoilova.
MUA by Galina Dedkova.
Model: Maria Kuznetsova.
Garments: Maison Martin Marginal, Froggy, Zara, H&M.
Shoes: Armando D'alessandro, Primadonna, Pilini.
And seagulls also cry when the sea betrays them...
Team:
Art direction, Ph: Natalia Samoilova.
Style: Gulbakhyt Barinova.
MUAH: Lubov Rozenfeld.
Model: Richard, Dandy Model Management Riga.
APHRODITE.
The goddess of love and beauty…
Art direction, Ph: Natalia Samoilova.
Style: Juliya Verbickaya.
MUAH: Lubov Rozenfeld.
Assistent: Arthur Bereis.
Model: Klaudija P., Dandy Model Management Riga
NOSTALGIA.
This story is a kind of discussion about the «nature» of nostalgia, which is much more than just sadness.
Ph, Art direction: Natalia Samoilova
Style: Olga Alt.
MUAH: Vica Mikhaylenko.
Model: Natasha, Look Models Russia, Moscow.
BLACK BOX.
According to the legend our Sun lives four stages during the year:
Baby Sun (the Sun is born in the day of the winter equinox);
Young Sun (this period starts on the day of the vernal equinox);
Adult Sun becomes at the summer equinox;
and the last phase - Wise Sun (autumn equinox).
We took our heritage plus our present and then shaken, not stirred...
Ph, Art Direction: Natalia Samoilova.
Style: Nastya Ermak.
MUA: Maria Kraskovskaya.
Hair: Anna Portkova.
Model: Helena Kadyrova, NAGORNY Model Management Minsk.
According to the legend our Sun lives four stages during the year:
Baby Sun (the Sun is born in the day of the winter equinox);
Young Sun (this period starts on the day of the vernal equinox);
Adult Sun becomes at the summer equinox;
and the last phase - Wise Sun (autumn equinox).
We took our heritage plus our present and then shaken, not stirred...
Ph, Art Direction: Natalia Samoilova.
Style: Nastya Ermak.
MUA: Maria Kraskovskaya.
Hair: Anna Portkova.
Model: Helena Kadyrova, NAGORNY Model Management Minsk.
Mysterious mermaid.
Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
MUAH by Svetlana.
Modeling by Erika.
This photo story is about a PINK world where there is happiness, goodness, hope and faith.
As an art-fashion photographer, I strongly believe that the first and most important thing in photography is the message and fashion photography is more than just a beautiful image.
Art direction, Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Still water.
Art direction, Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Katherina.
Living water
Art direction, Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Elina.
Living water
Art direction, Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Elina.
Still water…
This is a beautiful and emotional story about a girl who is trying to find a shelter in still water... but a wide range of emotions bubbling in her heart is pouring out...
Let it flow, there's nothing she can do...
Art direction, Photography, MUAH by Natalia Samoilova.
Modeling by Ekaterina.
You gave me roses, roses smelled of wormwood…
This is a sensual and emotional story about love, loss and memories…
She misses her, really misses her, but it’s over, and only the dry roses remind her of that crazy and passionate love.
Art direction, Photography, Style by Natalia Samoilova.
Modelling by Kristina.
