Bella Kotak

Bella Kotak is a fashion and fantasy photographer from Oxford, UK. Her work often has a variety of themes, but they all stick the the fantasy basis. She often uses a mixture of nature and man made props and costume to create images that stand out and come together as one. The result are images that tell a story without words and have a huge sense of escapism, despite many of her images just being taken at the side of the road.
It's through Kotak's use of location that I've realised I've completely abandoned this aspect in my own work. She uses these normal every day places to her advantaged and integrates them into the image rather than just standing in front of it like I have done.
I've also realised the amount of precision that goes into these images that I haven't been able to reproduce because I cannot see the camera screen. Because of this, I think going forward i'd like to tether the camera to my laptop so I can see the composition better, to help guide myself to make the best images I can.
Kotak also uses similar continuous elements to her images - escapism and the portrayal of strong women.

This image is called The New Queen Rising, and dates back to 2015, as a part of her 'In Bloom Series' - a series that uses nature to create stories. To create the image, she first scouted for a location, which happened to be in the corner of a London park. She also created the outfit, having the idea in her head for a while. She bought a plain black coat and glued several plants to it using a hot glue gun, which matched the location - it looks as if she's rising from the ground.
After seeing this image, something with the similar 'rise from the ground' feeling would be very suitable for my images of Asteria, as she became an island according to the myths.
The photograph has dark tones, using blacks and shadows to create an ongoing depth, and therefore uncertainty behind her. The flowers and leaves that climb her dress are dead and no longer thriving - they sulk in the darkness. The darkness, however, is contradicted by the paleness of the model's skin and her white hair. The crown that sits upon her head offers something more glamorous and queen-like than the dead nature around her. The darkness makes the image seem rather gloomy, which is not what I would expect if I had only read the title of the image, challenging what we have in our minds. The lightness on her upper half, however, represents the fresh rising from the ground well, as it appears that that part has emerged from a previously flat and barren ground. The whites have connotations of purity and innocence, and so it could be seen as something new and refreshing emerging from darker times.
Kotak has left a lot of space either side of the artist, which she achieves in photoshop by stitching several images together to give the illusion of a camera with a larger sensor. It also creates a distance between the subject and the viewer, as well as opening up that sense of darkness - therefore adding another layer of mystery and isolation.
The title tells us that this image is of a new queen rising from the ground, but if that is the case, the isolation makes me wonder where are her people? Who does she rule over and why is she so alone? Why does she look so oblivious, wistful? I think that i'm grateful for those questions to be left unanswered as they only add to the mystery of the image.
The angle is straight on to to the subject, however the distance from the subject means that it doesn't look plain and boring.
Kotak has also used smoke bombs to add a sense of movement in the image, which compliments the movement of the hair. Without this movement the image would feel rather static, but because it has been used I feel that it gives the viewer more immersion.
She's also used a variety of textures, which I think is something I could learn from. These textures, the dead flowers, the soft hair, the metal crown, and the smoke, for example, offer more dimension to the image and therefore it becomes more visually interesting as light interacts with each one differently.
Overall, the image has been toned to be rather cool, having blues in the whites and nature. This again creates a very mytsical and otherwordly feeling due to the connotations of the colour - nighttime, twilight, and iciness.

This image doesn't have a title that I know of, however it was made in 2016.
On instagram, this particular image is accompanied by a rather poetic caption;

"I long to be forever in bloom, falling in love with each new day, growing stronger, learning new tricks, and surprising myself with who I am and who I want to be as time passes. Women I feel transition so beautifully with time, our bodies connect us to the earth and we come face to face with our elemental nature every month. We shift, grow, create life, bring it forth into this world, and give, give, give. My mother is the strongest woman I know. I've watched her at her absolute happiest and in the depths of sadness yet through it all she lives her life with joy and kindness. Watching her still teaches me a lot about the person I want to be. I channel everything through my art and as you can tell, I'm drawn to the strength of womanhood and the fleeting nature of time. "

It is my guess, then, that this image is about a woman's connection to nature. Personally I believe that many people in the Western Society forget that we are a part of the eco-system, we are a part of nature and we are animals - our actions have consequences for the earth, and subsequently us. I think that this image, and the whole series in general, reminds us that we are not superior beings, which I support greatly. This image represents this through use of costume - the headdress is made from the same flowers that she is surrounded with, and her dress is covered in beaded flowers very similar to the ones around her - helping her blend in to the nature.
The image uses a lot of white and dark browns - both colour found naturally in nature. White has connotations of purity, cleanliness and innocence, and brown has connotation of the earth and nature. Together, the colours make a well balanced image that feel natural and fresh.
The model makes eye contact with the viewer, creating a relationship between the two. The look isn't intense, more whimsical - meaning this relationship (to me) seems to calm and relax.
The lighting feels very natural, but I have no doubts a portable light was also used in addition to daylight to create more depth. Overall, the image is very light and airy, giving it a refreshing feeling.
The angle is again straight on, but there's enough going on in the image that it doesn't feel plain or boring. The editing also adds interest, again using cool blue tones overall to create an icy yet dystopian feeling.
The distance between the model and the viewer is comfortable, and is close enough to form a connection without focusing on the intensity of the gaze of the model, overall making for an image easy to view. The pose that the model is in helps with this too, as it has a lot of movement and is an active pose rather than looking too rigid, helping the image feel fluid and elegant.
The textures are a mix between natural and man-made, but as a whole creates an image that's visually interesting. Similar to the first image, the tulle of the dress, the flowers, the skin and the beading of the dress give a variety to the eye.




Recently I have been very low in motivation and inspiration for this series, and I think that looking at work such as this really helps me get into the right mindset of what I would like to do. After looking at Kotak's work I have been planning more shoots, buying more accessories and have planned a location scouting walk for tomorrow.