The cosmonaut falls into the abyss of the cosmos and realizes that most likely he will not return. Another cosmonaut, who is big with black hands. This is himself, his hands are black to him because he himself chose this path and only he is to blame for not coming back.
Reflecting on people in a helmet is a reflection of his relatives whom he will never see again. The cosmonaut falls into the abyss of the cosmos, far from any hope, forever lost into the void of blackness and unknown.The shocking truth hits his conscience with a full-blown, throwing him out of himself, a wider perspective of his existence. Black stained hands, pain, and regret. There is no one else to blame but himself, increasing the terrible feeling of loneliness and loss. These are his hand, this is his body, they are his family, he is watching himself before transcending into something else.
As for this work, I used 4 light sources: two Siros 400I with a Softbox of 120x90 cm and 60х60, two more Siros 800L with a Softbox of 30x120 cm they stood on the right and on the left, slightly behind the model.
The whole shooting took place in a car workshop of a friend of mine. It was a perfect place to develop this idea. I lifted the model with a winch after testing it myself for security reasons and I also used smoke to add some atmosphere and texture to the image. I bought a cosmonaut's helmet (they call it an astronaut in the USA) from movie-makers in Moscow, and I made some minor adjustments, cleaning, and modifications. Also, we sewed a combination and an alpine garter from old army belts.
The hardest part of this job wasn't the technical aspect but the conception of the idea. It took me few months to think about details in order to achieve a concept that allows the observer to be part of the work by asking himself “Am I actually Major Tom?”.
