The reverse side of motherhood: Anna Radchenko's scandalous photo project. The Other Side of Mother's Love

The maternal instinct is legendary. They write about him in books, sing about him in songs and describe him in books. But sometimes a woman's love for her child is very peculiar and significantly affects the whole later life child. Humanity, as a rule, is silent about this fact. But some photographers dare to take up a sensitive topic in their work.

One of those daredevils Anna Radchenko. It was she who created a unique photo shoot that illustrates the most common mistakes that mothers make in raising their children. The first frame illustrates the desire of women to look younger and more spectacular against the background of their children. To do this, mothers force their daughters to dress modestly.

The second photo is about unfulfilled dreams adults that they are trying to embody in their children. For example, a woman who never became a ballerina in her time sends her daughter to ballet, despite the fact that she does not have the ability to dance.

But most often, mothers "tie" children to themselves with a sense of duty, numerous diseases.

And mothers also like to exaggerate their role in the family, demanding a special attitude towards themselves. As a result, a woman becomes a kind of center of the universe, and all households are forced to unquestioningly obey her.

Manipulation is also not uncommon in father-child relationships. Parents create levers to control the child in order to influence his thoughts and actions. This may be a feeling of guilt, a comparison of a son or daughter with another person, as well as a demonstrative expectation from a child of some incredible achievements.

The most innocent, but no less dangerous, is the situation when mothers treat their sons like children until old age, preventing them from growing up and making independent decisions.

Sometimes parents are overprotective of children, imposing on them the opinion that the world is cruel and you need to be more careful. As a result, the child grows up distrustful and embittered.

Parents do not always feel love and tenderness for children. Some mothers literally hate their offspring, wishing them dead. Why this happens - only a psychologist can answer. But the fact that children suffer greatly from the veiled hatred of their parents is a fact.

People suffer no less from the indifference of loved ones. Parents who do not take part in the upbringing of their children are common. Some even abandon newborns right in the hospital, not wanting to take responsibility for the child. Such mothers are usually called "cuckoos" in honor of the frivolous birds that lay their eggs in other people's nests. Although no less developed than humans. One of our old reviews confirms this.

Anna Radchenko is a creative young photographer. She now lives and works in London.

Especially for Profotos, Anna spoke about her work and the new project Melancholy Rooms, which included the already sensational series of photographs "Mother's Love".

The Melancholy Rooms project was originally created as an installation consisting of many rooms, each of which is dedicated to some hot topic(For example, information wars, hyperconsumption, dependence on gadgets and social networks).

Melancholy Rooms is a way to look at yourself from the outside, this is what is happening around us right now, this is the circumstances modern world, due to which people feel melancholy from time to time or constantly.

- Is there any difference in the perception of the project here and abroad?

The whole project has not yet been seen, the first exhibition will be held in London from 25 to 30 June. I can tell you about the project that is part of Melancholy Rooms - "Mother's Love". It is dedicated to the painful relationship between children and parents. In the UK and not only the project caused a huge response, there were a lot of positive reviews. But in Russia, I encountered the fact that people are not ready to accept criticism, they are less open to “hot” topics: negative feedback left in a very harsh, unpleasant form, turning to personal insults. Not a single person abroad allowed himself such statements. At least I didn't see them.

- Where do ideas come from?

I take ideas from everywhere. I can be inspired by both an exhibition and a performance... Even a lecture on astronomy at the Museum of Science can lead to interesting idea. I just look around, write down associations. Sometimes my works are visualizations of metaphors or illustrations of texts. There are plans to publish Melancholy Rooms in the format of a book, where psychologists and sociologists will comment on the images.

What photographers and artists inspire you?

I love surrealist artists of all stripes. My idol among photographers is Tim Walker. He comes up with incredible photography projects and creates insane subjects for filming.

- Do you have a favorite work in the Melancholy Rooms project?

Yes, a photo with three TVs.

- Which of the works was the most difficult to perform?

It was a lot of hard work. For example, the scenery, which was not easy to build. Perhaps the scariest thing was shooting a girl in the water with TVs. Of course, there is a lot of montage in this photo, but still, the model had to lie in the pool during the shooting, while TVs were floating around her. The decorators assured that all the wires were insulated and nothing dangerous could happen, but we were still worried, the whole shooting went under nervous laugh commands.

- You are now engaged not only in filming, but also in training projects. Tell me more about it.

Yes, I work with Future London Academy. We are developing a week-long course where you can learn from world-famous photographers, professionals whose activities are related to photography. For example, photo editor Vouge, photo artist Kirsty Mitchell, owners of modeling and casting agencies. As part of the course, they will tell photographers about the features of cooperation with world-famous publications, agencies, about building a career and creating the most sensational projects. Of course, it will not do without a portfolio review and personal recommendations. The Photo London festival will start at the same time as the course. There will be many exhibitions, it will be possible to communicate with their authors and recharge with the energy of creativity.

- You created a weekly training program in the Online Photo School. Tell about her.

Anna Radchenko made a photo project, which is still being actively discussed on the Internet. A series of photographs called "Mother's Love" shows how parents influence the fate of their children.

Anna is currently studying at the University of the Arts London. The photographer first entered the Financial University under the Government Russian Federation. But when she graduated, she took the diploma to her mother and said: “That's it, you can hang it on the wall, and now I will calmly do what my soul lies in.”

Interesting to know gives a photo project and the history of its creation.

According to Anna, the idea of ​​creating the project came to her mind after reading Anatoly Nekrasov's book "Mother's Love". “When I started taking photographs more professionally, being in search of topics, I remembered this story, found a book and re-read it from the point of view of some visual ideas.”

When I was a teenager, I wanted some things that my parents seemed not very adequate - concerts, parties and other things. What parents - and not without reason - usually say "dangerous", "not necessary" and so on. Now I understand that if I have a daughter and when she is 15, I will also not let her go at night with some strange people to some strange events. But then it seemed to me that my mother was turning my life into a nightmare. Mutual discontent, of course, resulted in conflicts and scandals. And the further - the more.

But now Anna's relationship with her mother has improved a lot. “Mom helps me a lot, she, the main organizer of the process, invites people to shoot, gives them tea ...”

When I started posting pictures from the “Mother's Love” series on my VKontakte page, users began to leave comments like “oh my god, the author had such a terrible childhood”, “unfortunate photographer” and so on. Literally, this has never happened in my life. Just in certain period did not leave the feeling of pressure from the parents.