GALINA YAPTIK
“OUR” HOME PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO ON THE BALCONY
(Saint Petersburg, Russia)
When the lockdown started, it became apparent that many photographers would now need to work in a distanced way. In response to this situation, artist Galina Yaptik is offering festival-goers free photo shoots from her balcony. During the festival, from 2–5 pm, the artist is hosting photo sessions for viewers from her balcony and sending them the photos via email. In this way, Galina offers visitors the opportunity to experience being a model, as well as photos capturing this moment. This action has the potential to become something cherished, or something else entirely – the experiment will show.
Artist Galina Yaptik keeps her body in St. Petersburg, and her soul – wherever it may go. She is a graduate of the Institute of People of the North and FotoDepartament, spent two years at the European University, and studied in the Paideia School of Contemporary Art Interpretation. In 2015 she adopted a second name: Syanda. Her practice includes mechanical realism and tantric asceticism, fiery cleansing of the mind, fortune telling by reading spits from the window, weather forecasting in layman’s terms, bringing home stones and happiness. Syanda-Galina is a multi-talented master of applied domestic anti-magic from around the world. The face of the “visually impaired” artist is impossible to spot on many international and Russian TV channels, while her articles can be read between the lines of top magazines. She has participated in some exhibitions.