Floral Nude Photography | Ethereal Beauty Project
Floral Nude Photo Session
by Yuliya Panchenko
Stories have a way of staying with us, making their way into our hearts and the way we express ourselves through art. When we think of myths, one group of stories in general come instantly to mind: greek mythology. Though thousands of years old, these stories have shaped so much of our world to this day. The poems are still taught in schools, the heroes are still being written about, and the sculptures…. the sculptures are still recognized and admired worldwide. The celebration and empowerment of the body as presented through Greek art, inspired me to do a shoot with these concepts and themes. And just like that, the project titled “Ethereal Beauty” came to be.
Floral Nude Photo Session
The planning stages of this concept involved researching inspiration images and studying sculptures. Two goddesses in particular were the main focus, Aphrodite and Genetrix. Two women who are depicted as very powerful as well as feminine and sensual. The second part of planning was ensuring that the Greek theme would translate well through the images. Florists, Iryna Shulzhenko, designed wearable floral arrangements that served as accent pieces made of green and white flowers. We also made sure that white fabric was incorporated into the shoot to represent the traditional Greek tunic. After the concept was completed and we were fully ready to shoot, it was time to bring everything together and create stunning images.
I worked with a beautiful model for this project and focused on posing her similar to the inspiration images of the goddesses. Her hair was braided loosely to create a sense of freedom and wilderness with floras added on each side of her head to allure to the wreath Greek gods and goddesses wore. It was important for me to leave her makeup natural and soft to show off her natural beauty as the goddesses wore little to no makeup in most paintings and representations.
Floral Nude Photo Session
The placement of the florals accentuated the models’ natural curves and really highlighted the idea of empowerment. I posed her to hold the white fabric behind her and just under her booty as this incorporated the tunic into the shot without taking away from the body. One thing that I noticed when looking at Greek sculptures was their incredible focus on highlighting and shadowing the muscles.
Floral Nude Photo Session
As a photographer, I made sure to capture this with my camera and really bring out the tones for these images. After careful attention to detail and hard work I was happy with the images and the fact that I was able to create with a photograph what has often been depicted through sculptures and paintings. Showing that art transcends and changes through time while remaining present and a topic of conversation.
Photographer: Yuliya Panchenko
Studio: Yuliya Panchenko Photography
Florist: Iryna Schulzhenko
Model/client: Hannah Jo
Makeup artist: Juliana Colon
Cinematographer: Eliar Tabrizi