It’s official: all the good kitsch comes from Russia. Or at least a good part of it. I hope you’ve seen Svetlana Petrova’s cat, Zarathustra, making classical paintings ‘better’. Or Svetlana Novikova’s crazy coloured animal paintings. Well, Elena Eremina photographs her hamsters, in the kitchen, after her husband and child go to sleep. The result is this photo series with a Flemish still life painting air in contrast with these too-cute-to-sweet sentimental scenes. I find this contrast surprising, terrible and lovely at the same time.
The photos must take a lot of skill, staging them with hamsters cannot be a simple thing. Even though they are naturally curious, as Eremina says, capture them at the right time must be a challenge. To that ad the atmosphere she creates, the details, the light, and the result is one talented photographer.
For more, there’s more to be found here and here.
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