Bewitched
Bewitched is a story shot by Kristina Shakht, a New York-based photographer. This is a project about femininity and the redefinition of a mystic creature: a nymph, a goddess, a witch. The creature, which in folklore has supernatural powers and is usually presented through the prism of the body features. The focus is on the nude body enhanced and at times partly covered with different variations of the character’s hair, work by Timur Katz.
We dive into the character’s universe to get a hint on who she might be, what she might be thinking of, what are her deepest intentions. The work with light on set emphasizes the hidden and the visible traits of the heroine. Helga, the model on set, offers an additional layer of charm through the piercing yet soft stair, which yields to unfold a story never told before.
We speak with the team to reveal some of the preparation work and the shooting process of Bewitched. Kristina tells us this was a second Polaroid editorial shot with Timur. She says, “I had this vision of the witchy nymph, mystical and mysterious. It was a combination of a mermaid, The Swan Princess, and Vasilisa the Beautiful from Russian fairy tales.” Through the image of a nymph, Kristina supports the attempt to determine a different approach to the woman’s body, deleting the sexual gaze and replacing it with an artistic expression. We speak about the challenges the team faced, symbolic elements that assist in reading a narrative, and the connection to Slavic storytelling.
Photography Kristina Shakht MUAH Timur Katz Video Alena Tarasova Talent Helga Hitko at Supreme New York
‘I had this vision of the witchy nymph, mystical and mysterious. It was a combination of a mermaid, The Swan Princess, and Vasilisa the Beautiful from Russian fairy tales. I wanted to bring that ethnic look and show it in a modern and minimalistic way.’
— Kristina Shakht
Let’s discuss the idea behind the editorial Bewitched. Where did it come from?
Kristina: It was our second Polaroid editorial with Timur. The first one - Intimacy of Loneliness, we shot for Office in downtown Manhattan on a rooftop. We were exploring isolation and worked with hair as well - there were shots with 4-5 meters of long black hair, middle-length, and short hair cut on one model. This time I wanted to work with Helga, and I had this vision of the witchy nymph, mystical and mysterious. It was a combination of a mermaid, The Swan Princess, and Vasilisa the Beautiful from Russian fairy tales. I wanted to bring that ethnic look and show it in a modern and minimalistic way - choosing several elements that I’d want to use to build a story from - naked body, hair, and natural light. I find a lot of inspiration in women, and I’ve done a lot of work lately exploring the female gaze, femininity, and the body. My main goal is to normalise women's bodies, not as sexual objects but as pieces of art, showing them as they are.
In the past months, I've been leaning a lot toward more intimate and personal projects. I’m highlighting beauty as a way to cope with all the things that are happening in the USA, Russia, and the world in the past year. I feel like it’s my way to stay sane in all the chaos - this morning, the police came to the parents' house of an activist whom I know personally back in Saint-Petersburg and searched it for two hours. She might end up with some made-up charges. And I can’t believe that something that I’ve learned in history classes about the Stalin era is happening in 2021. So it is very surreal to read all the news about arrests and not be able to do anything except spreading information and creating something that will make people feel good. I’m still processing and trying to understand ways to bring it up in my art - at the moment, it’s through beauty, but it might evolve into something else with time.
‘In my opinion, a modern witch is someone (person not just a female at birth) who knows things naturally, who feels energies, and can translate them into words. Someone who can use their powers for good or bad.’
— Timur Katz
What, in your opinion, are some of the characteristics of a modern witch or a goddess? Or what would be the similarities and/or differences between a nymph, a witch, and a goddess?
Kristina: I feel like they are the same aspects of one. First of all, power-wise, I think all three have great intuition, invisible power to create and destroy, to control life and death, in some way. When I say ‘modern,’ I mean the image, visual manifestation that a modern person is able to understand. If 400 years ago there would be a lot of symbols in painting and art, then showing these creatures in the present time, in my opinion, has to reflect the world around and be more minimalistic and raw.
Humanity is rethinking a lot of concepts in several past decades like religion, marriage and family, gender identity, and we don’t have specific elements that we know to represent any of these three nowadays. We don’t have a visual image, or it is very blurry, because of globalization. Even 50 years ago, for each individual, they’d have a specific race, ethnicity, and background story depending on the viewer's background, now it’s very vague. We say witch, and we think about an old lady with an apple from Snow White or other pop culture image but not something authentic to our own culture. That’s the reason why the image itself is very simple without any elements that would show that she belongs to some culture - she is universal in some way yet at the same time very Slavic.
Timur: In my opinion, a modern witch is someone (person not just a female at birth) who knows things naturally, who feels energies, and can translate them into words. Someone who can use their powers for good or bad. Someone with wisdom. I think that similarities between all these three are some sort of invisible power/energies that each one of them can use.
What, in your opinion, are some of the characteristics of a modern witch or a goddess? Or what would be the similarities and/or differences between a nymph, a witch, and a goddess?
Kristina: I feel like they are the same aspects of one. First of all, power-wise, I think all three have great intuition, invisible power to create and destroy, to control life and death, in some way. When I say ‘modern,’ I mean the image, visual manifestation that a modern person is able to understand. If 400 years ago there would be a lot of symbols in painting and art, then showing these creatures in the present time, in my opinion, has to reflect the world around and be more minimalistic and raw.
Humanity is rethinking a lot of concepts in several past decades like religion, marriage and family, gender identity, and we don’t have specific elements that we know to represent any of these three nowadays. We don’t have a visual image, or it is very blurry, because of globalization. Even 50 years ago, for each individual, they’d have a specific race, ethnicity, and background story depending on the viewer's background, now it’s very vague. We say witch, and we think about an old lady with an apple from Snow White or other pop culture image but not something authentic to our own culture. That’s the reason why the image itself is very simple without any elements that would show that she belongs to some culture - she is universal in some way yet at the same time very Slavic.
Timur: In my opinion, a modern witch is someone (person not just a female at birth) who knows things naturally, who feels energies, and can translate them into words. Someone who can use their powers for good or bad. Someone with wisdom. I think that similarities between all these three are some sort of invisible power/energies that each one of them can use.
‘We had a lot of shots that we underexposed because it was a semi-cloudy day, and clouds would cover the sun and change the light every couple of minutes.’
— Kristina Shakht
What were some challenges that you faced during the shoot from a technical perspective?
Kristina: Technical aspect was a blessing and a curse at the same time. We had a limited amount of film, and I honestly didn’t understand Polaroid’s latitude as good, at the moment, as I do now - it takes practice. We had a lot of shots that we underexposed because it was a semi-cloudy day, and clouds would cover the sun and change the light every couple of minutes. Also, there were a lot of takes with fire because I couldn’t understand why pictures weren’t exposing correctly. We had more than 5-6 blank shots with a little orange stripe of fire on the bottom. I do love shooting on Polaroid, specifically because of the lack of control. I feel like the camera here becomes another team member that is equally involved in the process as we are, and I never know how exactly shots will look.
‘The process of the shoot is always something that I love and cherish: energy between all the team members, process of creating and discussing things, listening and hearing each other.’
— Helga Hitko
Which moment from this project is most precious to you?
Kristina: I was very inspired by the entire process, but the most satisfying moment for me was creating the layout after the project was finished. Of course, my favorite part is working with a team on set and seeing how the vision comes together. Although creating a layout, in the end, is sort of full cycle - from idea to the actual story ready to see the world.
Timur: I guess I should say when I was doing hair/make up. Besides beauty, I was assisting Kristina, helping Helga to be comfortable with all that was going on on set. So I guess, the balance between each element, a harmony of a mystery - how that story becomes alive.
Helga: For me, the process of the shoot is always something that I love and cherish: energy between all the team members, process of creating and discussing things, listening and hearing each other - for me, it’s the same process as sex, you have to understand your partners in crime to get the best result.
