There is no theater: Marianna Vysotskaya

31 Mar

Photographed by Marianna Vysotskaya using only a handheld flashlight as the primary light source, There Is No Theatre Here unfolds as a cinematic exploration of presence, illusion, and performance. While working on the series, Marianna returned repeatedly to David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, especially the moment when the man on stage says, “No hay banda” — a reference that shapes the project’s atmosphere of ambiguity and staged reality.

Through gesture, shadow, and saturated colour, model, hair and makeup artist Alina Leonova moves between subject and performer, creating what the photographer describes as a “theatre of one person,” where identity is constructed through light, expression, and atmosphere rather than narrative.

Styled by Dudina Helena, the editorial balances restraint and theatricality, allowing the images to exist between portraiture and performance while emphasising the intimate, internal stage at the centre of the series.