Vsyachina: Margarita Kareva Photography

I came across her work online and it was so striking that I mediately went to ask Google for more. I discovered that Margarita Kareva is a photographer from Russia which I kind of sensed in some of her photos (and so will you in the gallery at the end). She enjoys fairytales, especially the darker ones as she told me. After my internet~~stalking~~ research I was super happy to see that she agreed to do a little interview with me. We managed to overcome all the language barriers (google translate was involved) and discover, for you, a bit about Margo’s world.

She introduces herself.

My name is Margarita Karev. I live in Russia in the city of Ekaterinburg and I am a photographer.

How did you first get interested in photography?

I started doing photography four years ago, back in 2011. I go my first semi professional camera as a gift for New Year’s Eve. It was Canon 600D and it opened a whole new world for me. Until then, I never thought that I would become a photographer.

I ask her to describe her work.

I try to make my work unusual. I see ordinary things every day, so I try to add a bit of fairy tales in your life with photography.

What inspires you?

I get inspired by a lot of things: traveling, design, beautiful people, films and books.

Do you believe in the expression “A picture is worth 1,000 words”? If yes, why?

Concise picture – yes. But, I still love a written word. Photos may not always turn out right and sometimes you might not get the results that you imagined. For phantasy, writing on the paper gives you much more possibilities.

In your opinion, what makes photography art?

I would say it’s the ability to think outside the box. You can create many different styles of photography. It all depends on your imagination and sense of taste.

Here’s what she enjoys photographing the most (it’s pretty easy to spot by yourself).

I love to photograph beautiful and charismatic girls. Guys are not that interesting as models as they don’t have that female magic.

Who are your favourite photographers and why?

Annie Leibovitz – a talented photographer, and she is also a woman.

How important are Photoshop and retouching in your work?

It makes about 20% of the success of the overall process. What is more important for me is a good preparation for a photo shoot (well thought out inspiration, finding a good model, clothing, props, finding the right location). With all this, the picture is already getting good, and later on I merely bring it to perfection with color correction and retouching.

Favorite book, song, a movie you would like to recommend?

It was very difficult to make a selection. Hollywood produces a lot of incredibly beautiful movies, but the last one that left a great impression on me has to be Mad Max (production of light in the film, the work of stylists, interesting plot solutions).And, I just love Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

From books anything from Stephen King and there are too many other writers to mention (smiles).

With music I don’t really have any special preferences.

I ask what kind of superpower she would like to have (it became my favourite question lately).

I actually often dream that I can fly. Maybe it would be cool to discover what it’s like to fly like a bird in real life.