My name is Praskovia Malinka, I live in Berlin, but was born and lived most of my life in Moscow.
I got my first DSLR camera for my 14th birthday and used it to take pictures of myself, vacations, friends and my dog. Then, at the age of 17, I discovered film photography and I still use it to this day, constantly capturing the people and moments of life around me.
I have always been drawn to creating visual content, and my inexplicable dream was to try working in filmmaking. After high school I decided to enroll in Media Communications, as this faculty combined a lot of creative opportunities. And it turned out to be for nothing: during my studies I made a documentary movie dedicated to relationships and hardships of sisterhood, as well as a video clip for a music group.
By the end of my first university year, I realized that I wanted to try working in film production. From then on, I fell in love with filmmaking and associated myself with this field for several years to come. I was very well remembered on the first project where I worked as an intern and began to be invited to other projects. It was great, but I realized that I had to move on and try my hand at something else. I wanted to make my own projects and realize myself through my own creative ideas.
So in September 2021 I shot a funny documentary project in the style of the TV series Office about a friend's wedding, and then I went to work as a junior creator at Conde Nast.
In autumn 2022 I started studying photography in Berlin. During this time, I realized that I like to interact with people, I like to show their beauty and uniqueness through photography. I also like to find unusual characters and generally make documentary projects about their lives.
Before I left for Berlin, in the summer, I went to the iconic Chaika swimming pool in Moscow and was impressed by the number of bright, interesting elderly people I saw there. Then an idea was born in my head to make a project. In August 2023, having already gained experience in photography, with the desire to make my own documentary book about these people, I returned there and spent a whole month talking to the residents of the pool, listening to their stories and photographing them. I was very happy with the result and now I'm eager to give publicity to this project.
