Fine Art nominee

A contemporary portrait inspired by the philosophy of Zhuang Zhou’s dream — where the line between human and butterfly, dream and reality, becomes blurred. In this image, a woman’s face merges with the vast wings of the Attacus atlas, the world’s largest moth, symbolizing transformation, fragility, and the fleeting nature of beauty. The soft, painterly light evokes the essence of the Renaissance and the Golden Age of Dutch art, where every insect carried a hidden meaning — the butterfly as the immortal soul, youth, and the delicate balance between life and transcendence.

Irina Petrova Adamatzky is a Bristolian internationally published and award winning photographer and artist. She specializes in wildlife micro-photography and science fiction inspired installations organically integrating living and artificial entities. A unique feature of her work is she mostly uses retro manual focus lenses to share the wonders of the world. She has won a substantial number of awards and prizes, including MUSE Photography Awards 2022 and 2021, BIFA 2021 and BIFA 2020, New York Photography Awards 2021, winner of FEP Awards 2021 Nature Golden Camera and ND Discovery of the Year in category Nature 2019. She is also a member of the committee of the Royal Photographic Society Women in Photography group.