Miss Aniela

Fine Art photographer Natalie Dybisz creates striking work under the name Miss Aniela. Her powerful images erode the boundaries between art and fashion, depicting contemporary models with classical references inspired by Renaissance painting and Dutch masters. Her expansive vision is brought to life through rich, meticulously constructed sets within stately homes located throughout Europe and the US which see wild elements of nature colliding with the historic interiors. The bold and beautiful costumes and contemporary models connect and react to their surroundings; while digitally created after-effects enhance the hypnagogic quality of the artist’s images, particularly seen in the dream-like worlds of the Surreal Fashion series. These juxtapositions between nature and manmade, the female form and interiors, painterly motifs and digital photography are continuously explored and reconfigured by the photographer as she makes new works. Miss Aniela’s impressive works have been exhibited across the world including the Saatchi Gallery, the Houses of Parliament, and Waldermarsudde Museum in Stockholm.

How long have you been creating work as a photographer; has it always been your medium of choice? I first became hooked by the immediacy of the digital photographic medium eleven years ago, and the luxuriously private process that could involve no-one but myself, like a painter working with pixels. I used myself as a model for seven years of self-portraiture before I moved onto other models, and was never sure whether I actually had a passion for the camera, or whether it was my choice of art vessel sheerly through circumstance. But now, I can say I have a deep passion for being a photographer.

The scenes depicted in your work feature figures within elaborate sets, sumptuous lighting and surreal digital elements. Can you tell us some more about your process from idea to final image? When I was less experienced, I would start more with a mood or desire, from which a picture would emerge in a serendipitous way. As I evolved, the more I worked with a team, the more specific storyboarded vision was needed. But some images are more compositionally planned than others, and I enjoy spontaneity, such as an unexpected pose or moving the light for a dramatic change. I shoot as much material as time allows, then comb through to find the images that move me. The post-production could be anything from a tweak, to full-blown surrealism. I always try to ‘listen’ to the image and not add too little or too much.


White Witch Awakening, 2014, Giclée on Hahnemühle Pearl Paper, 83 x 124cm

Fine art and fashion collide in your work, with the two disciplines coming together perfectly to express your unique point of view. How has fashion played its part in your career as an artist; is it something you’ve always worked with or did you find it slowly seeping into your practice? Early on, it seemed that fashion could be the most obvious visual commodity into which to translate my love for femininity and colour. It took me a while to realise I was more interested in fashion as costume, as a form of visual installation to take and elevate fashion beyond the disposable pages of a magazine, into standalone works of art that could be timelessly hung and enjoyed. It has been a challenge to find stylists, makeup and hair artists that can help rather than hinder this process of creating fine-art rather than fashion, and I am fortunate now to have excellent solid, talented team members who have stood the test of time.

Surreal Fashion is a real celebration of this; can you tell us more about the project? Surreal Fashion began with a desire to make something more than a fashion photo, something that would stand out from the crowd and hark back to the age of laborious craft in art history.

The Governess, 2015, Giclée on Hahnemühle Pearl Paper, 97 x 113 cm

Away with the Canaries, 2013, Giclée on Hahnemühle Pearl Paper, 96 x 115 cm

It is a way of celebrating my love for costume and history, and for stately houses through England, Europe and the US, that I use to stage the photos. ‘White Witch Awakening’ and ‘The Governess’ are shot all in-camera, using the taxidermy collection of Aynhoe Park and the 500-year old golden gilt of the Elizabeth Room in Belvoir Castle. Sometimes I will direct inserting pieces of classical art, or a stock photo from nature. ‘Swan Lake’, shot in The Ruins ballroom of Seattle, is fused with the sea of the Big Sur to create an almost sculptural surrealism. Whilst most images take only a couple days’ postproduction, my Faces series (including ‘Bloom

Face’, cover image) take months to collage a face with hundreds of paintings from art history, a form of digital tapestry that blends ancient and contemporary in intricate detail specially for large scale viewing. I want my viewers to be able to lose themselves in the detail of my work. All my works I produce as limited edition prints with accompanying certificates, from small size through to XXL. I have selected a paper that most closely reproduces the style of the works, a 320gsm fine-art (Hahnemühle) paper for rigidity and longevity, with a Pearl surface finish which avoids dulling the intense colour palette of these works. I am fortunate my works have sold worldwide to collectors and luxury venues and we have recently been commissioned to fill an entire hotel!

Swan Lake, 2014, Giclée on Hahnemühle Pearl Paper, 100 x 100 cm

Having worked on the series over the last seven years, what direction do you see Surreal Fashion going as you move forward? I am still producing new images for the series, but slowing down as I begin other projects of work. We are now working on putting together Surreal Fashion as a fine-art book which I have long anticipated, with accompanying exhibitions: ‘Timeless Tales’ joint show is currently showing at CultureInside Gallery in Luxembourg, 3 May - 9 June.

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