I am releasing only the first part of these images - the best are there to come yet...
the idea was created for upcoming #Easter and the challenge was to incorporate the #Renaissance, church related theme with the symbols of Easter: eggs and rabbits.
ancient Vedas tell us that Slavic and Aryans left the lands of #Daaria and to celebrate this freedom release of the nations the day of Paskhat was marked in calendars. The legend tells us that evil creatures inhibited the Earth planet. They were called Koschei and they aimed to kill humans. One of the Slavic Gods named Dažbog from the light was fighting these dark forces from the underworld. At that times the Earth had three Moons (Lelia, Fata and Mesiac): one of them, Lelia was inhibited by the evil forces. The Moon was destroyed by the brave God and the fire-rain started that caused floods on Earth. The lands of Daaria were covered by the deep waters of oceans and thousands of people were killed. After Slavic people paint the eggs they start fighting with each other using the same colored eggs. If you loose (your egg breaks) it symbolises the victory of Dazhbog over Koschei. The broken eggs were considered to be the eggs from hell while the whole and unbroken (winning) eggs were representing the power of God.
The eggs were painted bright to remind people of the fire-rain that killed all evil on Earth. The wedding of The Earth and The Sky was basically celebrated. It was the time when the Earth was ready to give birth to a new crop, it was rich and fertile. Women baked cakes in the form of cylinders that represented manhood and the eggs basically were looked at as symbols of men's power too. The rounded dishes made out of quark were symbolising female origins. The egg symbolises a new beginning that gives birth to everything on Earth, the magic of birth. When there was nothing on Earth the duck flied above it and dropped an egg. The egg landed in the sea and broke up in two halves. The Earth surfaced from the broken egg as the legend tells us actually from one of its half. The other half created the Sky. Eggs were also used for magic when the ritual symbols and magical signs were written on eggs which were later placed in the temples to praise certain Gods. The best and most beautifully painted eggs were given to God named Perun. The couples in love exchanged the painted eggs too as a symbol of their love and mutual sympathy. The ancient people had powers and believes that we can hardly grasp. We can only reflect on them but the deep understanding of them is hidden from us unless we work on the lost meanings.
Ester's symbols: clear waters, bright fires, eggs and rabbits have their roots in very ancient past.
Clean water cleanses you from hardships, misfortunes, sicknesses and evil forces (pure and holy Thursday).
The Easter fire symbolises the burning fire of your house, the fire-place in your father's house that saves us from greedy animals and gives us food and warmth. There is magic in this fire that creates goodness in family, that fire separates evil from divine.
Rabbit in Slavic culture is considered to be a symbol of fertility
Coming back to this project now, the task was to show eggs in their pure beauty (emu eggs were chosen painted gold they were a perfect representation of Earth, birth and new beginning, as well as the innocence of the rabbits - black rabbit was picked up for the Earthy colors. The dresses for this project were custom made by the fashion designer and the inspiration was the Renaissance style of the sleeves and the modern twist of the legs showing in the front. The whole color-code of the project was kept in consistency to represent the blooming, approaching spring time related Easter in the warmer hues. These particular part of the project was snapped with the sandy church wall colors on the background to add to the mood of the shoot.
MODEL: #EmilyDaniel / p. Robyn Daniel
FASHION DESIGNER: Kwacha Luka / Kwacha Fashion
HEAD PIECES: Marina Vexler / Rudolf Ladyzhenskii at Cupids Millinery Melbourne
SHOES: Charley Boutique / o. Elena Drinnan
FLOWERS: Bunch After Bunch by Diana Vasilivitski
MUAHs: Monika Hodkinson Makeup Artist , Tam Puni at Quintessential Makeup By Tam and Stephanie Becvinovska
BLACK RABBIT: named Pops / owner: Maya Khmelevski
EMU EGGS: owner Monika Hodkinson Makeup Artist, gold paint by: Marina Vexler
PHOTOGRAPHERs: Erkin Kalayci and Tugba Mimi at Cheers Melbourne Photography
STYLING, STAGING, CASTING AND ART DIRECTORS: Dina Gavrilovaand Natasha Marchev
PROJECT IDEA: Natasha Marchev
yet another Bohemian Rhapsody Club and Magazine project.