FotoFirst — Lux and Lumen: Varvara Mikushkina Studies Direct and Reflected Light












Ciao Varvara, how are you?
I am doing well, trying to balance life, making work and surviving in general.
What is photography for you?
Photography is many things. I have been making photographs for a long time and I think that photography changes according to how I relate myself to the outside world. I use it to facilitate how I experience my environment and of course to document my life.
What is Lux and Lumen about?
Lux and Lumen is about the false-ness of images. The title refers to the terms for direct light and reflected light. Also, “lux” is a play on luxury, and the focus on the false value we place on certain objects of fashion or desire. I was highly influenced by the palette and aesthetics of an old Soviet TV show and I wanted to push the idea between a real or an imagined narrative. Aesthetically there is a play between the objects and their reflective materiality as they are bathed in this “nostalgic light”. I was interested in how that type of hallucinatory cast can be expanded upon to influence the perception of the subject matter. The make-shift still lifes, landscapes and portraits don’t offer any answers and I enjoy this ambiguity within the series.
Where can you be found online?
At my website and on Instagram.
Keep looking...

FotoFirst — Ryan Shorosky Brings Us to the Alien-Themed Brothel He Stumbled Upon in Nevada

Yes, There’s Still a War in Ukraine — These Are the Men Who Are Fighting It

Americana — Shane Lavalette’s Beautiful Photos Tap into the Music Tradition of the American South

Americana — Trent Davis Bailey Rediscovers the Valley in Colorado He Used to Visit as a Child

Americana — Marta Giaccone Travels to What Is Left of the American Utopian Communities from the 1800s

Americana — Alexander Missen Tracks Down the Symbols of American Culture

Americana — Taking a Second Look at the Country We Thought We Knew So Well
