The Synchronization Project is a self-portrait project where I take on the roles of both the model and the photographer.
I seek out unique natural landscapes and incorporate compositions featuring different positions of my body within the landscapes. I interact with nature and align my movements with the lines, geometry, and colors of the places.
For me, this project is also a performance, usually lasting between half an hour to an hour. Sometimes, I have an audience, and other times it's a personal interaction with nature.
While many people, upon seeing the works of this project for the first time, may get the impression that it's done with AI or in Photoshop – no - the essence of this project lies precisely in the absence of such artificial manipulations.
In other words, I use Photoshop only to merge these several layers into one composition. The main idea, however, is a deep immersion into real interaction with nature.
When I capture these shots, I feel a profound connection with the place. I shoot in the nude, and it's not about any erotic undertones for me; it's about erasing barriers between myself and nature. It's about the sense of timelessness.
I want to create a sense of pristine authenticity and convey it to the viewer. For me, the fact that I do all of this for real, without AI and Photoshop, is the main aesthetic value.
I interact with reality.
Reality itself has become an aesthetic category in our time, and I believe this feeling will only grow stronger.
Creating each piece takes several weeks or even months - from conception to implementation - preparing for the trip, scouting locations on site, exploring all the possibilities, actual shooting
Then, many days are spent creating the final composition by combining several photos into one. I multiply several photos taken within half an hour to an hour into one and thus demonstrate a shifted point of view on space-time. The viewer can see the long process instantly.
There is also a story behind every episode of the project. And the story is part of the project.
For example, I might fly to a tiny island lost in the middle of the Atlantic to descend into the crater of a long-extinguished volcano. Despite rain, fog, and cold, I might wait there for two hours in the rain until the fog clears and I can see something.
Or - I can descend into a dark cold mountain lake at night, wrapped in a thread with attached flashlights, becoming the sole source of light in the surrounding environment.
I don't always approach the task seriously. Some scenes are created spontaneously with a touch of irony and humor. For example, in one episode, I decided to mimic a herd of cows grazing in the nearby meadow, playing with their poses and movements. I simply saw them and instantly decided to "graze" along with them.
Every time it's a challenging and adventurous story and I attach short videos illustrating the entire process of the shoots so people can imagine how it's made.
Here you can find some of the short videos as well (under the photos section)
https://buruleva.com/synchronization
