Floral Portraits for commercial photography | Slavic Beauty Project
Floral Portraits
by Yuliya Panchenko
The beauty and power of art is its ability to capture a feeling and tell a story through the smallest of details that makes up the overall piece. This is why, when working to create a concept, the details are essential to the final product. My newest project “Slavic Beauty” is part of the ongoing Botanical Beauty series I've been expanding and developing. Each piece holds its own story and captures a feeling that is purely their own. I worked closely with florist Iryna Shulzhenko who created a floral headdress for this shoot that represents a Slavic “kokoshnik,” which women used to wear back in the day in Russia and Ukraine. The goal was to bring a bit of our culture into our work and represent a traditional piece with a modern and high fashion twist.
The project began with planning and designing and slowly it bloomed into the gorgeous series that was envisioned. After selecting our model, we tweaked the overall design to match her and her style. Hotter colors such as reds, pinks, and oranges worked beautifully with her complexion and was a nice contrast to her blue eyes. I knew that this would make for gorgeous images that had a strong piercing look while keeping the delicate nature of flowers. Our model, Tabitha, was very involved in the planning process, as our clients typically tend to be to achieve the best results. When creating this type of art that is personal and tweaked to match each and every individual, the time spent before the actual shoot date is essential. When the time came to capture these images, most of the work had been done. Iryna worked hard to design and put together the gorgeous floral headdress before the shoot date, making the process a bit faster than usual. Floral earrings were made for the model to further encompass the look we aimed for. Showing that tradition can be modernized and represented even today.
Editorial Floral Portrait Photography
As mentioned above, it’s all about the details, and they don’t stop at the design. For me, the funnest part of my job is creating powerful images by ensuring that the posing matches the tone and flow of the look. For some images, I styled Tabitha to pose in ways that emphasized the kokoshnik. This was done by having her hold one side of the headdress with her hand while looking at the camera and keeping her expression soft. Even the smallest change of expression makes for a completely different image. The squinting of the eyes creates a stronger and more powerful look, while the parting of the lips adds a bit more character. Since these images were primarily headshots, posing the hands helped create different moods as well.
Editorial Floral Portrait Photography
The final images convey that traditional pieces can still be worn today and culture stays with you even when you're far away from home.
Photographer: Yuliya Panchenko
Studio: Yuliya Panchenko Photography
Florist: Iryna Schulzhenko
Model/client: Tabitha Hayden
Makeup artist: Tabitha Hayden
Filmmaker: Eliar Tabrizy @ Captive Emotions