Conceptual nominee

Often when a human being turns into an adults, he/she has a very certain image of him/her, image that was formed by his/her parents, friends and society as well: he/she knows the social roles and follows all the rules. But one day, often due to some crisis or stress, this person might discover that he/she is't happy where he/she is. For example, that a person never wanted to be a doctor, and went to a medical school only because his parents told him to do so. So the person realises that there’s a difference between what he/she really is and what he/she appears to be in the eyes of the others. There comes a moment of self-discovery. A person first realises that he/she doesn’t like the way things are in his life now, and then finds out his/hers other side. What he/she really likes and what makes him or her happy. And not only the person finds this thing, but also accepts it and decides to be in harmony with it. Which is not often easy to do, since the society might think otherwise. I’m trying to show this moment of self-discovery in a metaphorical way.

Dasha Pears is an award-winning Russian conceptual photographer, currently based in Helsinki, Finland. Dasha’s unique style is dreamlike and whimsical. Her works tell stories that combine real life and surrealism, making the viewer stop and think.

She started her photographic path in 2011, after reaching burnout in a marketing communications career. Having tried many types of photography, Dasha found herself in the conceptual and fine art sphere. Since then her images have been exhibited in Russia, France, Poland, Austria, and Finland. Her work was also named among the winners of Best of Russia’15, had an honorable mention during Trierenberg Super Circuit 2017 and 2018 photography contests in Linz, Austria, and won a bronze medal during Prix de la Photographie Paris, 2018. Dasha’s photographs are used worldwide by companies like Trevillion, ArcAngel, plainpicture and Millennium Images, and can be found on covers of books published in Europe, the United States and South America.



In 2016 Dasha started sharing her experience of organizing conceptual photography shoots and producing surrealist artworks in the form of creative photography workshops. Since then she has held over 15 events in Finland and abroad..