On the fifth year of my emigration, I realized that my identity was slowly fading, and my feelings of longing seemed frozen. Living in a foreign space, I gradually lost contact with who I used to be, and the further I drifted from the past, the weaker my cOnonnection to the present became. This project is my journey back to myself through photography, an immersion in nostalgia as a way to restore my connection to my roots and inner self.
Nostalgia is not just a longing for the past; it’s a longing for oneself. Like a quiet wind carrying the scent of long-forgotten days, it brings us back to moments when life felt endless and the world was full of promise. These are the moments when happiness was found in small things—cold winter air, playing in the snow, the creak of old sleds. Nostalgia brings us back to these feelings, not to relive them, but to understand how they shape who we are today.
I used different cameras to capture different fragments of this journey. The instant camera was there to seize fleeting moments and remind me to be present in the now, in a present that seems to slip away so quickly. The film camera took me back to my 14-year-old self, when I first held a camera and learned to see the world through its lens. And finally, the digital camera—my modern tool that unites all these experiences into a single whole.
Winter in this project becomes a symbol, a metaphor for nostalgia. It’s harsh and cold, like memories of a time that can never be reclaimed, but it’s also cozy, like the childhood winter holidays, when snowstorms raged outside, yet inside it was warm and peaceful. Nostalgia is a journey through the snowstorm of the past, leading us back home—to ourselves. Looking back, we don’t simply remember where we came from; we measure the distance we’ve traveled and realize who we’ve become.
2023-2024
FRENCH GLITCH
Ongoing.
The project “FRENCH GLITCH” by Emilia Sultan and Anna Panova is an intimate journey into the metamorphosis of perception. Sultan and Panova invite us to see Paris through the eyes of its residents, not tourists. Iconic tourist spots gradually blend into the everyday urban landscape, reflecting the artists’ personal transition from temporary visitors to inhabitants of the city.
The works of Emilia and Anna bring to life the philosophical ideas of Georg Simmel and Marc Augé. Simmel argued that the intensity of urban life leads to “polite indifference” — a defensive reaction to sensory overload that fosters superficial social connections. Meanwhile, Augé described how well-known city landmarks become mere spatial markers, losing their historical significance for locals. Augé’s “places - non-places” experience their own “glitch” in the photographers’ works.
The photographic duo captures the “glitch” in the expected narrative of the city, challenging and redefining the meaning of stereotypical Parisian clichés. The result is a dialogue between reality and perception, where even iconic symbols like the Eiffel Tower reveal an unexpected duality.
This personal “glitch” in perception symbolizes inevitable shifts in how we see, opening a path to a more authentic connection with place.
2024
