Anya Anti is an internationally published photo artist from the Ukraine who now lives in the Big Apple. If you have never seen her work, you are missing out on a whole series of quirky, interesting, and fantastical images that stir up emotion and imagination.
I am a big fan of photographers who go that extra mile, either by creating props or building their own sets. Anya regularly creates installations to shoot her models in, and these are just as spectacular as the costumes. Anya's recent work has been about climate change awareness, so please make sure to check it out and support her.
In this behind the scenes video and Photoshop speed edit, Anya shows us just how she managed to source the spacesuit worn by the model in the final photo. Spoiler alert: she didn't source it from NASA. In fact, she built the helmet from an acrylic sphere she bought online, remembering to cut holes it so her model could breathe. It is not fun to suffocate models. Well, most of the time anyway. The rest of the outfit was made from a secondhand silver jacket, a piece of cardboard to use as the collar, and an old belt. Both of them were sprayed with silver paint.
The video then switches to Anya's editing process, where she uses various retouching and manipulation techniques to achieve the final image. A top tip that I use myself is to slow the video down to half its speed. By doing this, you can easily see the adjustments and tools Anya is using and then apply those methods to your own work. In all, the editing took around four hours.
image and video used with permission of Anya Anti.
Very ingenious. Love the creativity and storytelling!
I made my props, costume and make-up for a while is more intresting than just shoot, I just finish a Tricorn hat with a sofa found in the street.