SAMOYLOVA, ANASTASIA

Anastasia Samoylova (Russian-American, b. 1984)

Cargo Ship, 2017

Archival Pigment Print

11 x 13 ¾ inch image on 13 x 15 ¾ paper

Signed Edition of 30

Anastasia Samoylova moves between observational photography and studio practice. Her work explores notions of environmentalism, consumerism, and the picturesque. Cargo Ship is from the ongoing FloodZone project. Located on an island that sits at only 7 feet above sea level, Port Miami—the world’s largest cruise port, with half the port’s revenue coming from tourism—becomes increasingly vulnerable to severe weather as the oceans continue to rise. The officials at the port have identified climate change as one of their primary concerns and much effort is now being directed into devising a plan for climate adaptation. In this piece, Samoylova photographs a large cargo ship docked at the port, its hull framing the densely stacked colorful shipping containers. Bright and white, the word “Capital” gleams from one of the containers reflecting in the low seawater that appears deceptively high.

Anastasia Samoylova lives between Miami and New York. She received an MFA from Bradley University and MA in Environmental Design from Russian State University for the Humanities. In 2021, her project FloodZone was presented in solo exhibitions at the History Miami Museum; Multimedia Art Museum Moscow; Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid; Peter Sillem Gallery, Frankfurt; and Galerie Caroline O'Breen, Amsterdam. The book of the project was published by Steidl in 2019. Samoylova’s new project, Floridas, will be published by Steidl in 2022. Her work is in the collections of the Perez Art Museum Miami; Museum of Contemporary Photography; and Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Germany; among others.