We recently had the chance to connect with Olga Zhdanova and have shared our conversation below.
Olga, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
I’m completely absorbed in the process of creation—when my hands and camera become an extension of my thoughts, and a special state emerges in which time loses its weight and I rediscover myself. In these moments, everything external fades away, leaving only pure attention to form, color, light, and the material I’m working with. This is my return to myself—not through words, but through action, through the metamorphosis of my inner world into visual form.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Olga Zhdanova. I am a visual artist exploring the boundaries between the body, space, and inner experience. My language is visual poetry, in which light and form become a way of communicating with oneself and the world.
I work at the intersection of art and photography. It’s important to me not just to depict a person, but to reveal their presence, their inner vibration. My projects often emerge from observation, from the movement of breath, from the way light touches the skin—these are moments in which truth emerges.
I promote the idea of returning to natural beauty, to sincerity of perception. I want everyone who encounters my work to experience the ease of self-recognition—without masks, without tension, simply in the moment.
I am currently developing visual series that combine photography, texture, and the human body as a landscape of emotions. For me, this is a way to speak about fragility and strength, about the unity of the inner and the outer.
You can purchase my finished works for any interior, whether for businesses or homes. You can also commission a personal shoot or a brand shoot.
My work is featured in exhibitions around the world, and I’m open to collaborating with galleries.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
I think connections between people break down where sincerity disappears. When we start playing roles instead of being authentic, when words no longer match feelings, and communication becomes an exchange of masks. Everything collapses not because of conflicts, but because of silence, which hides the unsaid, the fear, and the shame of being vulnerable. We stop seeing the other person as a person, seeing only their actions—and we lose the ability to empathize.
Only honesty restores all this. Not the kind that sounds like an accusation, but the kind that comes from deep within, when a person says, “This is how I feel.” Sincerity is always a risk because it makes us open, but it is in this openness that intimacy is born. When two people can be together without defense, without playing games, trust is born, and with it, a connection is restored.
For me, human relationships are like fabric: the more truth there is in it, the stronger it becomes. And if a crack has formed somewhere, it cannot be sealed with words – only with attention, presence and a willingness to look at each other for real.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would tell myself: Everything that seems like an obstacle is actually a path to yourself. Those moments when it hurts, when it seems like you’re going the wrong way—these aren’t mistakes, but springboards for your selfhood. They hone your form, help you hear your own voice and distinguish it from the noise.
I would say: don’t look for validation outside yourself. Everything you need is already within. Happiness isn’t where you’re understood or appreciated, but where you feel alive, real. Even if no one sees your light, it’s still there, and with time, it will begin to illuminate others.
And perhaps most importantly—you can do anything. Your “everything” doesn’t have to be great for the world; it has to be authentic for you. Trust your intuition, your hands, your eyes, your feelings. Every time you choose yourself, you create. Every time you walk through fear, you grow. And this, in fact, is the art of living.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
The cultural value I protect at all costs is the right of every person to love their own body — to see it as sacred, no matter what form it takes.
Our body is not something to be corrected, compared, or judged. It’s a living archive of our experiences — a vessel of memory, strength, tenderness, and truth. Through it, we feel, breathe, create, and connect with the world. I believe that how we treat our bodies reflects how we treat life itself.
I want people to remember: beauty is not a standard — it’s a state of presence. When we look at ourselves without shame, when we touch our skin with respect, when we honor the stories our bodies carry — we return to our wholeness.
For me, protecting this value means protecting humanity in its most intimate form. To love your body is to reclaim yourself — to say, “I am enough, as I am.”
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes. I would still create, even if no one ever noticed, even if there were no applause, no reflection of it in anyone’s eyes. Because for me, art is as natural as breathing. It’s not something I do — it’s something I am.
The act of creation itself is already the reward. It’s the moment when silence turns into form, when emotion finds a body, when I feel completely alive. I don’t create to be seen — I create to exist, to understand, to stay connected with what’s real inside me.
Praise fades, but the dialogue with yourself through art — it never ends. Even in solitude, when no one is watching, the process remains sacred. I would still paint, photograph, sculpt, write — because that’s how I listen to life, and how life speaks back to me.
Image Credits
Models:
Амели Триссон, Иван Альберт, Капитолина Ракасовская, Шан Сильвада, Анастасия Соловьева
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
