“There’s a balance in my work, between observation and posing,” the photographer notes. “First, I absorb my subject deeply, and come to understand every piece of their world. I try to connect my journey and my being with their feelings. And after that emotional bond forms, I can pull things from it. Now, I can ask Sky to lay here or look there, but every move needs to be studied before I ask him to make it, because this is not fashion photography. The images aren’t showcasing the clothing he is wearing, they’re revealing his soul. I always need to be respectful in asking him to do these things – and only if I know they speak to him. So, it’s a very delicate thing.

“In one of our conversations, Sky talked about weeds being the bandages of the soil. He says everything has a reason to exist in this life. When he’d finished talking, I asked him to lay down in the weeds. As I listened to him, I realized that nature also became his bandage. He got nurturing in nature, so when he’s in the weeds as the man he’s become, it represents a sense of coming full circle. That level of meaning is worth posing for, and remains a true documentarian look at who he is.”

Examining Elif’s images, meaning is not difficult to find. But it doesn’t lie beneath surface beauty. Rather, it is woven into the visual fabric of each photograph. Soft focus and movement meet hard contrast and detail head on, in what becomes representative of Sky’s enchanting complexities.

“Movement and prisms also fascinate me with this type of subject. They express the anatomy of a person so beautifully,” Elif continues. “It’s something of an unseen world, which provokes a sense of secrecy. I want people to contemplate over the images, and consider their own journeys when they look into Sky’s.”

As ever, ideas were brought to life through a thoughtful selection of tools. Elif chose FUJIFILM X-H2 and FUJINON XF56mmF1.2 R WR to document her scenes – a decision she looks back upon fondly.

“The camera’s high-resolution sensor and dynamic range allowed me to photograph contrast and detail with remarkable precision. Other cameras have a similar megapixel count, but you feel these tiny differences in X Series that have a huge impact for creatives. There is an analog sense to X-H2, which helped with the ethereal quality I wanted,” Elif notes.

“XF56mmF1.2 R WR enabled me to achieve a precise softness and shallow depth-of-field. And it filtered light so beautifully. The combination of these tools played a crucial role in bringing my artistic vision to life.”