Post by Elena Dudar

Photographer Elena Dudar on the pages of the international professional photography magazine PROFESSIONAL PHOTO (https://lnkd.in/dnejzRGA, editorial office based in England). And my work is on the COVER of the magazine. Interviewer — Terry Hope, the magazine’s editor. It was an incredible interview, because Terry had familiarized himself with all my previous interviews in advance and asked not only general questions, but also more subtle, nuanced ones. We talked about art, and I shared a more in-depth perspective on my working method. We also spoke about the war and about that terrible winter Ukraine went through. https://lnkd.in/dDcSqwWX A few key excerpts from the interview: “Eternal youth is being sold to us, which is absurd. Women are told to reject themselves and their bodies and turn into a constant commodity. Instead, I search for what is real, and the real can be preserved by living in harmony with the heart. Those who stay true to themselves, who love themselves, will not give in to a surgeon’s scalpel or a cosmetologist’s needle. “I photograph ‘witches’ — women who have developed and strengthened their intuition and feminine power. And this is not about dancing with tambourines under the moon or escaping reality. All my models are real women with real professions, and what unites them is the courage to trust their intuition. In the wrinkles around their eyes, in their genuine laughter, in their gray hair, in the lines of their expressions lies the most important thing — a woman’s story, a human story. And what unites them all is that they know what ignites their hearts. Each of them has a purpose in life.” “And this is not just a war — it is a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Russia is stealing our future. It is killing our best men. Because of the shelling, you can fall asleep and never wake up again. This is our reality. When I was a child and read about the horrors committed by Hitler and Stalin, my mind could not believe such things were possible. And over the past four years, I still cannot believe that the modern world allows this — but it does.” “Ukraine is a unique country,” Elena comments. “I communicate with colleagues from America, where if just 2 mm more snow falls than usual, everything stops. And here, on the contrary, there are power outages, heating cuts, missiles flying, and Ukrainian women are rushing to beauty salons. Yes, it sounds unreal, but it’s true. It’s part of Ukrainian DNA — we are a unique, creative nation. While art may come to a halt in the rest of the world during war, in Ukraine it does not stop.” #ukraine #professionalphoto #elenadudar_photographer #war #elenadudar #woman_portrait