Mila and the Storm

PrizeFinalists in Shoot (photo/video)
CompanyMatthew Smith Works
ArtistMatthew Smith
CategoryProfessional

Mila and the Storm is a novel-as-photoseries. 65 photographs tell the fictional story of Mila, a Russian makeup artist who has escaped from her small town in the North Caucasus to live in Istanbul. Here she meets an old school friend, Anastasia, who is a successful photographer, now based in London. Anastasia takes portraits shots of Mila in Istanbul, and mingles them here with images that Mila takes later in London, after her student visa comes through. Mila's birthplace, Tbilisi, also makes a hazy appearance, as though clouded by memory. A composite picture of Mila's deeper psyche emerges.