Varvara Gorbunova
#3 min Varvara Gorbunova
1. 1. 2025
On Womanhood
My way of seeing, as a photographer, is closely connected to and was constructed in the female environment, which I’d always look through, but not look at. This series is an attempt to do that. The history of my family has had a profound effect on my photographic practice. Revisiting my artistic choices and themes always brings me back to my roots, to my matriarchal family. Ever since my parents divorced, my coming-into-age world had been populated solely by women. My inner lens got focused on my mom, sisters, and grandmothers. Documenting the flux of daily routines, touching and mundane moments has turned into an artistic study that unfolds and reveals the very nature of womanhood that shaped me as a woman.
Coming Home
Have you ever tried putting into words the feeling of coming home after being away for a while? It carries a certain weight of melancholy - you see your parents getting older, buildings getting demolished and rivers running dry. Everything looks familiar, yet different. Yet it is so warm and comforting. It tastes like grandma’s cooking and smells like bonfire. It is fleeting, but somehow ever present. It’s like you’re covered with a big, soft duvet and no troubles or worries can get to you. You feel so light you’re almost floating and the whole world seems so far away. You dive into the sea of fuzzy memories where time is reversed and childhood emerges from the past to become your present again.
To be honest, the framework of the outer space is but a mental exercise allowing for a better understanding of our current conditions. Staring the Climate crisis. Before we start digging under the surface of the Moon or on Mars, the first steps will be mining operations in the deep ocean or the arctic circle for the first time accessible by heavy machinery due to receding icebergs. The Western colonial past plays the second violin. Before conceiving a functioning governing system in a future space colony comes an urgent need to reevaluate the history of western expansions and from it resulting in a blazing state of late capitalism.
Varvara Gorbunova was nominated to Futures Talents by Fotograf Zone in 2025.
Co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union, FUTURES is a platform to increase the capacity, mobility and visibility of it's selected artists and to bridge the gap between emerging and established artists.
IMAGES CAPTIONS
1–8 | Varvara Gorbunova, On Womanhood, 2021–2023
9–16 | Varvara Gorbunova, Coming Home, 2024
Varvara Gorbunova
Fotograf zone
#2 min Fotograf Zone
FOTOGRAF ZONE FESTIVAL 2025 – TALK TOGETHER
The fifteenth edition of the international Fotograf Zone Festival, titled TALK TOGETHER, focuses on language and interpersonal communication in its many forms. This year’s festival will be presented in a condensed ten-day format, running from 3 to 12 October 2025, and will offer audiences new perspectives on how language shapes our relationships, understanding, and conflicts.
#2 min Natalie Drtinová, Dorota Franková
Dorota Franková – Tenderness and Pain of Dorota Franková’s Portraits
In her work, Dorota Franková focuses on portraiture. While the portraits of others tend to be full of tenderness and fragility, her own are captured in exacerbated situations or via manipulated photographs that emphasise the restlessness of the mind.
#6 min Markéta Kinterová
Rencontres d’Arles 2025
The Rencontres d’Arles Festival is the world’s oldest photography festival and probably also the most visited. As its name suggests, it is an opportunity for encounters. Alongside the official program, dozens of spontaneous events, initiatives, and exhibitions emerge, both official and unofficial, transforming the town into a vibrant cultural organism. This year, I had the opportunity to experience the Rencontres d’Arles Festival through the eyes of someone who moves between their own artistic and pedagogical practice and above all as someone who believes that photography has the power not only to depict but also to shape the social context.
#5 min Fotograf Zone
2025 OPEN CALL WINNERS
#2 min Viktoriia Tymonova
Viktoriia Tymonova
#2 min Laura Amann, Robert Gabris
Robert Gabris – Acts of Provocation and Self-Protection or the Power of Prohibition and Taboos
Robert Gabris’ practice confronts viewers with a provocative exploration of domesticity, queer identity, and societal marginalisation. Keenly aware of the dangers of exoticisation and institutional exploitation, Gabris navigates the complexities of representing Roma life while paying homage to his culture, family, and their lived experiences. This strategic artistic endeavour confronts the harsh realities of systemic discrimination and neglect faced by Roma citizens, while also interrogating notions of inclusivity and identity politics as well as ways of giving back to Roma people instead of providing mere representation.
#7 min Marie Tomanová, Jan Hladonik
„Life passes and is mirrored in the image.“ – photographer Marie Tomanová in an open conversation
Marie Tomanová is one of the most prominent faces of the contemporary photographic scene, whose portraits explore intimacy, identity and the transformation of relationships over time. In this interview, she looks back on her exhibitions in Arles and New York, discusses her relationship with Libuše Jarcovjáková, shares her experience of making the documentary "The World Between Us", and talks about the power of mirroring that permeates her work.
#1 min Varvara Gorbunova
Varvara Gorbunova
On Womanhood