Written by Kristina Sergeeva and Michaela Nagyidaiová
In Conversation With is a visual discussion between two documentary photographers and recent LCC alumni. We aim to photographically cover a range of topics from history, community to lands and environments, driven from our background and family roots. This platform extends to photographers of any age, background and location to join our conversations, share their projects or work-in-progress while discovering other photographers and connecting with their works. We hope to form connections through our interests and the universal themes that we explore and raise a conversation, which many can respond to, interact with and partake in.
We are open for collaborations anytime, anywhere - just get in touch!
Kristina Sergeeva and Michaela Nagyidaiová, both former classmates and friends, are behind the In Conversation With platform. We met during our MA degree in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography and haven’t stopped collaboratively creating ever since. At present, the platform operates on Instagram, however, we soon hope to finish a website to house our multifaceted content. We recently designed and published Revisiting the Roots, our very own self-published zine which includes work from Kristina’s Mailbox44 and Michaela’s Where The Wildflowers Grow.
A little bit about us and our interests:
Kristina Sergeeva is a Russian documentary photographer, born and raised in the Middle East and is currently based in London. Kristina’s interest lies in telling visual stories about hidden histories, family, spaces, environments and secrecy. Drawn from personal family stories about the Soviet Era that she has not experienced herself, her work explores the intricacies of Russian history. In an attempt to discover her homeland, she has begun to unpack the complexities about the past system that she knew only through her family stories. To familiarise herself with the past of her country and the Cold War, Kristina has explored a closed town in the Urals, which until this day remains an extreme example of the Soviet regime.
Her work can be found on @kristinasergeeva__ or www.kristinasergeeva.com
Michaela Nagyidaiová is a Slovak documentary photographer based between London and Bratislava. Due to her interests in personal stories and projects, Michaela often focuses on themes that rethink the notions of home, migration, family roots and the aftermath of conflicts. The work she photographs examines historically significant sites or landscapes that have over time become forgotten or hidden in our contemporary life. She intends to revive the histories, discuss them and relate them to our present-day issues. The ongoing theme, she has been researching and working on, looks into the effects of the Greek Civil War, which took place from 1946-1949, and impacted a large number of individuals, including her family members. Through her project Where the Wildflowers Grow, Michaela's intention was to familiarise herself with the land once inhabited by her ancestors as well as to attempt to understand its history.
Her work can be found on @michaelanagyidaiova or www.michaelanagyidaiova.com
After finishing the MA, we, like many, faced the question of “what’s next?”, as people started dispersing back to their home countries. We soon realised that we needed to create something that would keep our creativity and dialogue going. We wish to combine our similar, yet very different visual approaches to create a discussion between each other but also with everyone else. Soon to be living in different parts of the world, documenting various stories and issues is what pushed us to start this visual journal. On the platform, we share our ideas, inspiration, experimentation, and showcase what we have been up to.
In Conversation With has recently featured photographers such as US based Frances Bukovsky, London based Shannon Osborne as well as a former LCC student, Dafne Salis based in Rome.
We are always on the lookout for photographers to feature, so keep your eyes peeled for new content. Feel free to send us your work or to just say hello at hello.inconversationwith@gmail.com!
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