MARINA
KÁLCHEVA
mari.kalcheva
A few weeks back, a close friend of mine sent me an instagram profile of a Ukrainian photographer and visual artist based in Barcelona, “I think it would be cool to feature her in HEAVY CARGO!”. First, I would like to thank my friend for the recommendation. Second, I would like to thank Mari for her enthusiasm and eagerness to meet in person!
We agreed on coffee, of course, Lulu & Flyn. It was a Thursday morning, quite sunny, and a bit too crowded inside, so we made the wise decision of sitting outside and enjoying the nice weather. While sipping our coffees, she was telling me all about her move to Barcelona 3 years ago, the changes she went through, and the beautiful feeling of finally finding yourself in a city that resonates with who you are. After that, we started going through the questions, which felt like a casual conversation progressing organically.
Hahah okay, I will take it from far back! All my life, I felt closed and not very connected with the place I was in. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and couldn’t really understand my wishes and what I like in general. I did different jobs that were not related to art, and then at some point in 2014, I went with my ex-husband on my first trip to Europe. During that trip, we decided not to take usual photos but to focus on filming videos, and when we came back I started editing these clips and noticed that I really enjoyed the process. I think it was the first time in my life where I felt like I resonate with something that I really like to do, and since then, I started experimenting more and more with video editing. After that, I decided to study Cinema Direction in Saint Petersburg, stayed there for a while, but didn’t really finish. I was working in video editing for a long long time, almost 7 years.
Photography had been something I wanted to do for a while but I think fear and stress were big challenges for me. I once borrowed a camera from my friend and shot in a studio but to be honest it was very stressful hahaha. I felt like there was this big pressure and that I had no idea what I was doing. So yeah… I was trying to take it more seriously and to take lessons but it was a tough process overall. Then when I moved to Barcelona, I still had this wish inside of me. Around 1 year after the crazy things happening in Ukraine, I don’t really remember the exact time. But yeah, I was like “I need to buy a camera”, and I did, it was second hand and funny enough it became this accessory that I added on my shelf and not really using it. Then step by step, I started experimenting with my camera more, not with people though, more with myself as I was shy.
I think one event that pushed me further into the photography journey was a story I saw by a photographer from Saint Petersburg that I follow, Sophie. She was saying that she needed an assistant as she was going to Paris and needed someone to help her with her shoot. Honestly, I felt a bit doubtful about it but I still decided to write her a message, and to my surprise she replied and told me to join her. So I went, and since that time, we became friends and I spent wonderful days with her and her team in Paris. It was a crazy story hahaha.
So Mari! How did it all start? Your journey, photography, Barcelona…?
Yeah, kind of! She was sending me pieces of videos and I was editing them, and she also gifted me her online course of photography. It was short, around 2 to 3 months but I think it made me more confident and helped me realize a lot of things about my nature of work. I felt that in my photography, I was inclining more towards natural things, pieces of life, but I didn’t know how to verbalize that, I felt it but couldn’t put it into words. I can verbalize it now because I’m looking back and I’m reflecting, back then however, it wasn’t really easy to do that. I still remember that when I was submitting my assignments to her, she would tell me “It’s very nice, I like it, but this chair for example shouldn’t be here”, like it’s not a clean photo, maybe a bit messy. To be quiet honest, I liked having this chair here for example hahaha, for me it felt nice you know? So yeah it was a moment of reflection for me…
After a while, I randomly found another course organized by Eduard Kopysov, he’s a famous Russian photographer and teacher. He had 3 free webinars and I was watching them and said to myself “okay, I’m definitely taking these courses”. What I really enjoyed about it was that whenever I felt like shooting something in a certain way, he would tell me yeah go shoot like that, kind of giving me this freedom to express. You feel something, and someone is able to verbalize it for you, and gives you this allowance to do it.
Oh wow, so did you start working with her?
Yeah exactly… So I went there for 9 months and it was honestly life changing because we were learning to have our own voice, learning to be artists. He really encouraged students to have their own style, write their artist statements, so not just to make photos but rather to be real artists. Yeah… and it’s only the beginning of this journey, this endless path of exploration hahaha, it’s awesome.
As if he gave you permission, right?
I can imagine, it was a building block in your journey… and how would you describe your artistic style then? And do you feel like it has been changing overtime?
I’d say my style is combining high-quality and low-quality images in different proportions. I like real, unposed moments and tend to capture them even when I’m shooting for a wine brand, for example. I like to add some roughness to the image. Sometimes I want it to look more like a painting, sometimes like a film photo, and sometimes just like a spoiled, damaged image. I also add photos from a kid’s camera. It’s real and honest, and I like the way it reflects the world’s contrasts. It’s also a bit of an homage to my childhood and reminds me of the technology I grew up with.
Mmmm… my style definitely has been changing overtime… I’m a reflective person in general so I reflect all the time and I notice these changes. Before, I think I’ve been more shy, and you can see that in my photographs when it comes to colors for example. Earlier, the colors would be softer and now I feel like I want more saturated colors and something stronger - going into deep shadows, even “wrong shadows”/ too dark/too bright, you know these extremes are usually considered as wrong. Something else I feel has changed is that now I want to take less photos. Maybe to think better, or maybe ask myself more questions “do I really want to take this photo?” and if I feel some emotions about the place or the person, then yes I will take, but if I don’t feel anything, I won’t.
Maybe tune in to yourself more? Having this internal dialogue?
Yes exactly. I definitely need to feel something in order to take that photo. I would like to think about it as “Less is more”. Even in portraits, I usually wait for the moment when I feel something because there’s a constant change and the interactions between me and my subject change along the way. I think this is deeply connected to my style, this need to feel a certain emotion.
We had a moment off record where we were trying to translate an expression in Russian that her teacher once told her when trying to describe her style. So here, she was ready to share it!-
By the way I found the translation hahaah! It’s not maybe the same thing 100% but it says: “Deliberately careless camera. Torn fragments of life”. It mainly highlights the idea of pointing the camera in a careless way or maybe without the perfect composition. Actually, we had a course in this program called “Broken Composition”, where we were learning not to think in these predetermined borders, to deliberately make this wrong composition. People in general have seen so many paintings and photographs that are well aligned with the norms and they’re maybe tired and bored of this, so in a way we’re trying to interject this process.
That was a very nice description hahaha… What about music? We’ve noticed a certain connection between your work and music. How did that develop, and does it help you with your inspiration and creativity?
I feel that music is a big part of my life and that it influenced me a lot, but to be honest it wasn’t like this a few years back. I started to incorporate it in my life maybe like 3 years ago. So recently I’ve developed this connection, yeah… With music, I can put myself in different states, and sometimes it even helps me get out of difficult and down moments. I think this connection came naturally - it started when I was editing a lot and some parts of a song would match a certain frame and some other parts wouldn’t. And recently when I was editing photos, there was always music in the background, so I’ve noticed that in some moments I would look at the picture I’m editing and the song hits that spot where boom click, there’s a match. Also when I post a photograph on Instagram and add a song with it, it would really be just a random song I was listening to at that moment and felt a certain connection between both subjects hahaha…
Actually during my final project for the 9 months course I was telling you about, the teacher really didn’t want us to stick to borders - this is a photo, this is a video, it’s all the same, they’re all visual things. So in a way he was telling us not to have these mind limitations. So funny enough we were studying photography but our projects were videos hahah… I mean you could choose what you prefer to do but I’ve noticed that until the end of our education, everyone got used to the idea of making videos. But then I chose to do photography for this final project, and while editing I was listening to Radiohead, and I really felt that the song matched with the project, I told myself: “okay, now the work is final.” And while defending my project, I told everyone, including the teacher: “you have to listen to this particular song while looking at the photographs” hahaha… so the teacher confirmed that yeah, it does match and it creates a special experience.
Hahaha, this sounds very nice to be honest… and this click that you felt made all the difference for your project. So, as we can see from your profile – you shoot portraits of people as well as landscapes and places. Could you describe the different feeling you get from shooting both?
I think when I shoot a landscape, I feel more relaxed and that I don’t have any responsibility, I basically do whatever I want. But when I’m with a person, it feels like a dance - you move, the other person responds to your movements, and vice versa. You have more responsibility, more focus, and there’s definitely a certain communication happening. Also, I think when I’m shooting a place or an object, it’s more about expressing my feelings and emotions, but when I’m shooting with a person, it’s about knowing myself and the person in front of me, to explore this interaction and it teaches me something new every time.
It’s nice that you don’t prefer one over the other, they both bring you something in a way.
Yeah, that’s true.
Okay, so! How does it feel to manage a social media account aside from your usual photography work? Does it come naturally or is there any pressure around that?
Oh it was definitely a big big pressure hahaha… Because to be honest I wasn’t really on social media, I used to post one photo every now and then, nothing consistent. But when I started my first photography course with the girl I previously told you about, she was really serious about social media and telling us “You NEED to post on social media” “There’s no other way!”. So yeah, it was a lot of pressure but then I started little by little… I was trying to apply what she was saying, storytelling, all these things… I tried once and spent an insane amount of time preparing, 3 hours, I mean INSANE! And then step by step, I got used to it and I think now I’m not going against myself. If I don’t have any energy to talk to people, better to be silent. If not today then I’ll do something tomorrow, when I feel like it. It’s much better that way, because I think somehow people can feel your emotions and everything anyway, so there’s really no point.
I don’t have anything in particular to be honest. I think I’m just curious about different things. I like to travel and see new people and places, not to be a tourist but more like a local, to actually experience the place for a while. I think Tuscany would be a place that I really want to visit, to these fields of flowers hahaha…
Makes sense… Is there any location/city/country dear to your heart that you wish to shoot more in?
Actually, I wanted to ask you. During these past few years of exploring photography, did your travel experience change? So when you were traveling, did you bring your camera with you, was there any pressure to shoot more in these destinations?
During the past few years, especially after moving to Barcelona, I was travelling a lot more. It’s easier of course to move around compared to when I was living in Ukraine or Russia. You know, visa, expensive tickets, long distance… I have a small special camera that I bring with me, not the heavy and big one haha.. I recently went to Palermo and took some photographs, but to answer your question, I didn’t pressure myself to shoot a lot, it was more related to how I felt in the moment.
No, no, it’s actually how I live my life in general. I try not to put the pressure of “have to” and even if I really HAVE TO do something, I take it in another way that doesn’t make me feel like this. It’s very poisonous to think “have to”.
Yeah so no “I have to”s.
