“With a flick of a finger, I am stealing the intimacy.”
Mariam Sitchinava’s work has an interesting quality. There’s something raw, intimate, and breathing. Her ethereal photographs let the viewer become a part of the artistic process, feel the sounds, breathe in the air, and touch the tips of the grass.
Her works are in motion. They fill you with an unknown sentiment, something that you’ll only experience if you follow her lead and get carried away into her reality.
✱ Photograph courtesy of Mariam Sitchinava
How long have you been involved in photographic art and how did you get into it?
I’ve been involved in photographic art since 2009. I’ve never shot anything before I got an analog camera as a gift. Little by little, I learned how to use manual cameras, how to catch the perfect light, how to use photography as a reflection of my vision and mood.
What inspires you?
Anything and everything can be an inspiration. Even simple things like a conversation with a friend, random light or smell, even people can be the source.
Why photography?
Photography is the best way to express my emotions.
✱ Photograph courtesy of Mariam Sitchinava
Your photos have an inexplicable feeling of movement and reality. How do you get that effect? What’s your secret?
For me, It is always hard to talk about my photos. I would say they’re like daydreams, nostalgic, sensual, feminine, divine and natural. The main thing is the vision, of course, then comes technique. I’ve learned everything by myself, that’s why I got the opportunity to try a lot, experience, play with light, and find out what’s mine. I think I’m blending a model and an environment with the colors and emotion in a very interesting manner – that’s the effect.
✱ Photograph courtesy of Mariam Sitchinava
Mother nature, the mood, the abundance of light, the tremble, the goosebumps on the skin. How do you work with the models? Do you give them direction? Or just let them live the moment the way they feel?
Yes, I give them directions but I try to not lose their own expression, I want their role to be more than visual, I always try to communicate with the model before photoshoots, the model’s mood always matters. For me, a model should not simply participate, she needs to act.
The way you capture the female body – there’s so much appreciation for it in your work. Feels like you’re constantly admiring its beauty and fragility. What is it that draws you to it?
For me women and nature together are a perfect combination, they help me to transform my imagination into photography.
✱ Photograph courtesy of Mariam Sitchinava
The human body as a temporal thing. The photographs survive the people pictured in them. Do you think photographs let us connect with people who are no longer around?
Absolutely, photographs let us remember and connect. Photography gives us the feeling of nostalgia the most. Photographs are the best way to feel the emotion and experience a virtual journey with a feeling you have that resembles the person or the time it was taken.
What’s an important story you want to tell with your work?
I’m just sharing my inner world with the viewers, many people see themselves, their childhood, their feelings, emotions, see that they are somehow connected with my photos.
✱ Photograph courtesy of Mariam Sitchinava
Pandemic and artist survival. How do you manage to survive, live, work?
The past few months were crazy for everyone, I had a lot of time to think and visualize everything in my mind. I made four or five personal photoshoots in a month and it’s a lot for such a short time but I’m happy I managed to do this.
Life of an artist in Tbilisi. What’s missing? What would you change?
It’s somehow hard. For example, I had some collaboration/shooting opportunities which were canceled because it was impossible to get the visa in a short period of time. Also, our Ministry of Culture isn’t supportive. During my early career, I’ve missed some very important exhibitions because of a lack of support.
✱ Photograph courtesy of Mariam Sitchinava
