With blazing red hair and piercing greenish, blueish, greyish (what ever the colour of the ocean is that day) eyes, Natasha is as stunning as her subjects. Bursting into KA Magazine’s reality, like a meteor from the heavens, this multi-talented, artist-photographer (real people), was not only a surprise draw for this cover, but to tell the truth we never saw it coming. Now we are smitten and you will be too!. Read on.
KA – What makes a beautiful young woman such as yourself, decide one day to become a photographer (and not a model)?
NK- I was born and raised in Europe, Russia, in a small town Klin, very Eastern European provincial town of Tchaikovsky, music, hushed serene landscapes, surrounded by river and luxuriant weeping willow trees and dusty roads. I was a painter, a poet, a writer, but never held a camera in my hands. Getting obsessed with a new direction every 5 years my brother suggested taking photography classes after seeing my shots and unique crops and dreamy descriptions. He influenced me into going to Art Institute where I got lost in my dreams in the dark room, developing black and white film, finding my new passion. It seems quite erotic to me to dip strips of film into emulsion under the red light, feeling it blindly during the whole process with only tips of my fingers and watching magic appear when the image immerses into life.
KA- Your editorial in KA Magazine is like something out of a futuristic, romance film; please describe the inspiration behind this shoot.
NK- The ability to conjure fantasy, my career has evolved from designing inte- riors, planning events, painting murals, frescos in old churches, trompe-le and faux finishes on the walls to finally arriving to my latest passion in photography, where I combine my love of travels and reading and dreaming into one fine art of photography. My work combines a blend of diverse cultural influences with refreshingly unconventional flair. The model whom I discovered by accident comes from Sudan and her touching story of vulnerability and struggles, grow- ing into a woman, poverty and pains reminded me of a fragile flower- calla lily. I wanted her to bloom, raise and disperse into galaxy of strength and beauty within and beyond.
KA- A private jet awaits, ready to take you to any location you desire; what is your ultimate destination?
NK – The harbors of Ephesus, the rivers of Heraclitus. The paths of Herodotus histories, where the hectic world and its relentless assaults vanish in order to descend on the landscape veiled by small man- made houses, a place richly studded with remnants of the past, a burnished refuge that reinforces the peace, ceremonious space bathed in the restrained coloration of sepia. I always dreamt of a 4am morning hot air balloon ride in Africa, over Kenya’s prairies watching elephants, jaguars and giraffes waking up, and me gliding in balloon so close to trees lightly brushing its tips with the bottom of my air ship waking up with the earth… or something out of the “Eng- lish Patient” movies, ending my day travel, in an Arabic country, ending up in a copper free standing bath tub with a local lover, listening to Azan playing in Mosques, ending making love all night long, so in passion I could capture more moments of life in my camera.
KA- You have an entire day off- no emails, no phone calls. How do you spend the day?
NK – An entire day off with no emails, nor phone sounds like luxury and a dream, which I would spend on a wide mattress right on the floor in front of tall windows, reading old books nude. I would play Nina Simone, sipping green tea and turning pages of ancient histories and books of travels, occasionally sprawling across the sunlit sheets.
KA – Who is Natasha Kertes
NK – Natasha Kertes is unique and a dreamer, an artist of many depths, a mother, a lover, a woman.