Photographer Viktorija Smidtaite specialises in portraiture, still life and moving image

My work is mostly studio-based and I enjoy experimenting with light, shadows and colour. My interest in creating artwork started with after-school art classes where, for nine years, I was taught drawing, painting and sculpture. I transferred what I learned in art school into my photographic work. Therefore, my photographs are often staged and constructed, with colours that complement the atmosphere I create. I take inspiration from my own life experiences and combine that with what I see around me to compose my images. My photographic work does not show reality how it is, however it shows my own reality and the world through my eyes.

This photographic and moving image project explores the idea of genderless perfume. It is a collaboration with a perfume brand called “Memoize London” and their range of fragrances based on the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues. This project invites the viewer to consider whether a fragrance should be determined by gender preference or personal choice and highlights the breaking of barriers by perfume brands in response to shifting public opinion and societal norms. The videos are grounded in reality; through the use of shadows and natural elements such as water, smoke, rain, the light coming through the window, moody light at home or a rainbow, it creates an atmosphere that can be recognised in our everyday life.