by Julia Flamingo
Type the name Dusan Reljin on Google and you will find dozens of photographs clicked for the greatest fashion and beauty magazines, as well as high couture brands in the world. The Serbian photographer lives between Oslo, New York, Paris, and Belgrade plus has a jam-packed schedule that includes shooting sessions for Gucci, Channel, Cartier, and Yves Saint Laurent, to name a few. In between non-stop meetings with fashion models or artists like Marina Abramovic, William Dafoe, and Melanie Laurent, there still is time for independent, personal projects. These works are mostly photographs and digital collages of powerful women that open up more space for the artist's creative mind.
Three of Dusan Reljin's latest works are now featured on Artpool as part of Aftermath collection, curated by Mahzabin Haque and launched last Thursday, November 10th, on the platform. The photos depict the Canadian model Eve Salvail, who is mostly known for her Calvin Klein adds, androgynous look, bold hair, tattoos on her head, and boyish still femme fatale features. As he commonly does in his fashion pics, Dusan worked in partnership with a hairstylist to produce the singular looks. This time, however, the celebrated Italian hair artist Beppe D'Elia didn't create a style on a model's hair, but a head sculpture on top of a photograph. The originals were once again clicked, and the high-resolution photographs are now on sale on Artpool as NFTs.
"I love the idea of taking a two-dimensional surface and adding elements to it so that it creates a life of its own," says Dusan. Beppe D'Elia proposed adding objects to the model's images that would create a strong political and social message: bullets, glass and insects create direct connections to war, waste, and sustainability. "Storytelling through images is something that has always intrigued me. When conveyed properly, you really see beautiful results," explains Dusan. If some cultures believe that photography can steal your soul, Dusan believes that a piece of his soul is also shared in each of his clicks. "You are exposing yourself so much, you feel part of your soul is opened to everybody. That's why authenticity is so important– I am telling this story because it is a part of myself."
This is the first time the Serbian photographer deals with NFTs, but it wasn't until he reached out to Artpool that he started to understand how it works.
"I felt a combination of curiosity and fear. I had a very hard time understanding it, but I knew this was the future. You need to have your digital print if you like it or not. Then a friend introduced me to Artpool, and I got very fascinated by it. NFTs allow you to recreate your vision in many different ways. I felt this was the right way to do it". Dusan Reljin
Digital and physical are taking turns along the entire creation process of the pieces. The same happens when a collector buys one of Dusan & Beppe's NFTs on Artpool: apart from owning the digital photograph, collectors also receive at home a physical high-resolution print of that same work.
Aftermath Collection
by Dusan Reljin & Beppe D'Elia
Now available on Artpool
Curated by Mahzabin Haque