Marina Kotidze — Cyprus: +357 9445 2145

«He does it with a better grace, but I do it more natural”

William Shakespeare

My name is Marina. Despite what my name suggests, I was born in Moscow, Russia — about as far from the sea as you can get. When I started photographing nearly 15 years ago, I never imagined I’d one day be living in Cyprus.

And yet, here I am.

I’m a photographer who once thought that professionalism was all about how much money you made from a shoot. Later, I almost stopped doing commercial work, because I realized that being a “visual artist” feels far more meaningful. It also means staying true to my own aesthetics and choosing the people I want to photograph, whether or not they can pay (and sometimes whether or not they even want to be photographed).

What has never changed are my values. Whatever the subject, I always photograph sincerity, vulnerability, courage, and love. And, in a way, a little bit of immortality.

I still shoot with the same camera I used 15 years ago (Sony A-900).

My photographic style is close to documentary, even though I mostly work with psychological portraits. Usually I don’t edit my images at all, and the photographs are presented exactly as they were captured — straight from the camera, without any post-processing.

That’s how I see. That’s how I shoot. I am a mirror of (your?) inner freedom.