Photographer Research - Elena Shumilova

Elena Shumilova

https://elenashumilova.smugmug.com/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/75571860@N06/

Elena Shumilova gave up her job as an architect to look after her young children and animals on their farm near Andreapol in Russia. She took up photography as a hobby in 2012 taking images of her children and the animals on their farm and posted some of them online. Her portraits went viral, attracting many admirers and have now been seen by over 60 million people worldwide. Percurean, a pet food company asked her to take images for their advertising campaign ‘Nourish for Life’ as they felt she captured visually the depth of a human/pet bond, particularly with children. Her heart-warming images illustrate in a powerful way the emotion that exists in this relationship and the viewer can connect with this. Shumilova has now shown her images in many worldwide publications and runs workshops throughout the world about how she achieves such amazing images. Shumilova’s images focus around her three children and every day moments as they are growing up in Andreapol and in Moscow. They capture loving relationship with their pets and the animals on their farm. To achieve this Shumilova carries her camera around with her most of the time so that the children see it as part of everyday life and learn to ignore it. The images are heart-warming and appear to capture intimate moments as if they had just happened and been caught on camera. However often hours of thought have gone into many of her images in considering what gestures and poses will best convey the special bond that exists between her children and their pets.  

In this image Shumilova’s young son Yaroslav, aged about 2-3  is standing next to their large pet dog a Central Asian Shepherd, which is a common breed in Russia. The dog is sitting and Yaroslav is touching him with both hands one on each side of his face and they seem to be looking into each other’s eyes. The boy’s hat obscures his face leaving the expression there to the viewer’s imagination. When I look at this image due to the rule of thirds my attention is immediately drawn to the boy and the dogs head and the intimate moment that has been captured. I can see and feel the affection that exists in this relationship and this is conveyed through the subjects’ poses, there is little in the background or in colourful clothing to distract from the interaction. The child looks so small compared to his large pet and this contrast adds to the attraction of the image. The furry dog sitting in a relaxed position appears gentle and seems to be enjoying the attention he is getting, there is something rather pure and special about this moment.

In this image Shumilova has photographed her son playing with their pet cat. The boy is lying down on a sofa near a window and the cat is sitting on the window ledge. Both of them have one arm/leg raised and the boy’s hand and the cat’s paw look life they are playing a fun game together. The window is misted up so the view outside is not distracting attention from the interaction, neither is the boys clothing as he is wearing white. This image beautifully captures an adorable moment between the boy and his pet. The boy’s face is turned away from the camera and this implies that he is unaware that his photo is being taken giving the image a natural un-posed genuine feel. This is part of Shumilova’s style to make the images look effortless as if they had just happened, however, she spends hours sketching ideas down and trying to work out the poses and gestures that work best to communicate emotion to the viewer.

This image shows a young girl running through some long grass near a wood and being chased by her fluffy white dog. It captures the fun they are having playing chase together in a relaxed natural setting in the countryside. This moment could be an everyday event that many viewers can relate to. The girl is smiling as she runs showing she is having fun and enjoying the moment. She is captured in freeze frame in a classical running position, while the dog is caught in the air with its front legs stretched forward and back legs trailing out behind her as she bounds along. Her mouth is open as she runs showing her increased breathing which when  combined with the positions give the perception of motion to the image making it easier for the viewer to experience the moment with the subjects. Shumilova has used depth of field to focus attention on her subjects as the foreground and background are both blurred. This concentrated the viewer’s attention on them and the fun they are having together.

This image captures the love the girl feels for her pet dog. A lot of this is expressed through the positions they are in. They are both lying down in the dry grass and the girl has placed herself over the dog protectively cuddling him with her arms. She has placed the side of her face against the top of his head and taking a moment just to enjoy being close to him. Her legs mirror the position the dog’s front legs are in, making them look rather symmetrical and in tune with each other, as if they were inseparable as one continuous shape. They both look relaxed and content and are keeping each other warm, sharing their body heat with each other in the cold weather. This we can see by the girl wearing a scarf, boots and a warm coat and the blue background colour also gives the feeling of it being cold. The blue and brown colour of the subjects is also mirrored in the landscape colours making them seem more at home and relaxed in this location.The girl’s facial expression has a faraway look as if she is dreaming of past memories, possibly those involving her love for the dog and moments they have shared together. While the dog is looking directly at the viewer and making eye to eye contact so involving them in this heart-warming moment.

This image captures the loving relationship the young boy, Shumilova’s son, has with his large pet dog.  They are both lying down on the floor on a rug and are leaning in towards each other and are just about to touch faces together. The boy has his eyes closed as if to give his dog a kiss. It looks a very natural pose with both of them looking relaxed and comfortable on the fluffy rug. The colours in the image are very neutral creams and beiges and this makes the image come together more and focus on the subjects without being distracted by any bold colours. The large size of the dog compare to the boy adds contrast and interest to the image, and the way he is behaving towards the dog and the expression on his face shows that the dog is a gentle giant that just wants to be cuddled.

Influence

Elena Shumilova influenced this image in that I wanted to visually capture the depth of a bond between a person and a dog as powerfully as she does in her images. Her photos appear to capture intimate moments as if they had just happened and have been caught on camera, so come across as portraying genuine emotion. To best convey the affection that exists in the relationship, Shumilova plans then captures particular gestures and poses of her subjects. I wanted to emulate the apparent natural effortless images she captures using poses that demonstrate their love for each other. In this image I captured a volunteer Julia kneeling down in front of Rita, a dog she fosters, to gently stroke and tickle her behind her ear. Julia is facing towards Rita and is making eye contact with her, looking at her lovingly. Rita is standing attentively in front of Julia and is looking towards her, though we cannot see the expression on her face as it is positioned away from the camera. Rita has turned her head slightly to allow Julia better access to behind her ear as she is enjoying the attention. The viewer will automatically fill in the dog’s facial expression that they think best fits with the image making the image more personal to them. The poses reveal a close relationship between them, as they are relaxed and comfortable being close to each other and are making eye contact. The image, just like Shumilova’s, does not look modelled or set up and this gives it a more natural feel so the viewer will connect more to it and the genuine feelings being displayed. As with most of Shumilova’s images there is little else in the image to distract the viewer’s attention from the relationship being shown, even the clothing colours are usually subdued. I have therefore been influenced by her in taking the image in a grassy paddock with little in the background to distract attention from the subjects, and have filled enough of the frame with my subjects to make it feel intimate without being intrusive. Finally as inspired by Shumilova I have placed the subjects where they will be the centre of the attention. Rita is in the centre of the image and Julia is positioned vertically along a line of thirds to the left. The viewer’s eye will therefore be directed towards them and the affection that is being clearly portrayed.

Summary

Elena Shumilova has inspired my work in documenting aspects of the work at a dog rescue centre. I wanted to capture the bond that exists between the volunteers/staff that work there and the dogs that they care for. This relationship is very important to document as it is the enjoyment the workers get from interacting with the dogs that partly motivates them to work in such a physically demanding and messy job. The way Shumilova captures her heart-warming images of the relationship between her children and their pets is by using poses, gestures and eye contact that convey to the viewer the loving relationship. Then she makes the relationship the focus of attention by ensuring no background clutter or distracting colours removes attention from it. There are a large number of different poses and gestures she has used and has spent many hours thinking of the ones that will best convey this relationship to the viewer. However I will use the poses the workers naturally assume when interacting with the dogs they care for. Then I will position the subjects within the frames for maximum effect. In this way I will achieve a natural pose that appears effortless to the viewer and this will allow them to connect more with the subject and the genuine emotions being displayed. I have also been influenced by the way Shumilova ensures that there are no eye catching colours or distracting background objects to take attention away from her subjects. She usually uses harmonious pale colours that make her subjects feel connected with each other. However I have no control over the colour of the staffs clothing so will therefore have to limit myself to reducing background distractions. In many of her images Shumilova uses a narrow depth of field to focus attention on her subjects however this is something I have decided I will not be doing, as while I want to focus on the relationship I also want to document the images as naturally as possible and this includes the details of the landscape.