Alena Lobanova

Today's Brand New Art is an exclusive first look at the amazing photo series 'Manga' by Russian photographer Alena Lobanova. Inspired by the comic books of her youth and in particular the strong, powerful and feminine characters portrayed in this form of Japanese pop culture, Alena utilises the beautiful new collection by Polina Benefit to tie together a manga story inspired by the modern day Tokyo metropolitan. The look created through this styling, the striking, theatrical hair and make up by Tanya Mokrushina and the compelling, authoritative poses struck by model Anastasiya Yakhnina make for exciting imagery which brings Japanese manga to life in an entrancing and empowering way. We chat to Alena below to learn more about the shoot:

What inspired you to create a manga themed shoot? What kind of manga character did you want your model to represent?

It was a matter of chance – my friend (clothes designer) dedicated her new collection to Tokyo metro, at the same time I watched many feature films about Japan and Asian culture (“47 Ronin”, “The Last Samurai”, “House of Flying Daggers”, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and others). And then I remembered about my old love of anime & manga (I watched and read them at my 18-20 years). All ideas, what inspired me, came from my childhood and teenage years. I was always inspired by characters of women/girls in Japanese stories – they are strange, strong, mystical, have secret power, very feminine, and I decided that I want to see the same heroine in my shoot.

The wardrobe and styling is fabulous, can you talk us through some of the fashion used?

Styling is result of our dream-team work, each of us put heart into these project. The basis was wardrobe – new collection of my friend Polina Benefit, it was dedicated to Tokyo metropolitan. It was inspiring colours and different textures in that collection. And every colour and texture was reflective of all kinds of various model characters. That was really something!

What made you choose the locations used?

I love shooting with typical light in different public places – bars, museums, restaurants, shops, theatres, etc. without special photo equipment. That’s why I decided to find two bars with interesting lighting and interior.

Finally our Muse issue is out now, who is your muse?

My muse is a Woman, sometimes Super-Woman, I think every girl or woman is Super, their souls and hearts are Universes (full of fantasies and secret wishes). Every my photo story is a story about girl or woman fantasy. Each of my stories is a story about myself, about my secret, about my fantasy.