Oana M. Baković
Oana M. Baković is a contemporary fine art photographer with a predilection for the wild, sometimes endangered flora, peculiar plants, big bodies of water and motion.
She was born in the port city of Constanta, on the shores of the Black Sea, to a Croatian father and a Romanian mother. Always a passionate photographer, she started by documenting her family life tangential to her work as an advertising professional.
In 2020, Oana finally focused more on her art, identifying that her interest lies mainly in the natural world and refining the technique of using a flash with ambient light and sometimes ND filters. The camera of her choice is a Fuji X100V.
Things started moving in the right direction when she participated and won first prize in a local photography art contest. The winning photograph of old Morris Minor was much praised in the local art community, which gave her confidence to go further.
By 2022, following her win at The Sony World Photography Awards, Aesthetica Magazine wrote,
‘Baković offers a fresh take on floral photography. The results are almost alien, highlighting the natural world from the inside. Seemingly small plants become towering giants in front of Baković’s lens, rendered in rich and saturated colour palettes.’
Oana is committed to saving the natural world by showing its exquisite beauty in detail, capturing unique moments as they happen, and always looking for locations where nature thrives.
Her photography of flowers and plants goes beyond capturing their beauty and decorative value. She does not arrange them outside their own world’s rules. By photographing them in their natural environment, she aims to convey their soul, highlighting the interplay of natural elements that make them unique and vulnerable.
The artist likes to emphasise ‘nature’s flaws’ in her art, and no shift, beautification or arrangement must add to what nature created herself.
The single artificial element is the flashlight, which she uses to bring to life the fantastic microcosms of nature. She usually works during magic hours, chasing interesting angles, different natural light intensities, and wind-driven motions.
Her first collections received prestigious awards from The Independent Photographer, The Fine Art Photography Awards, The Sony World Photography Awards, The British Photography Awards and The International Photo Awards.
Selected works have been published in major publications, such as CNN Style, Amateur Photographer, Forbes, Aesthetica Magazine, Artdoc Photography Magazine, Photo Vogue, and Lensculture.
The artist has exhibited in prestigious galleries worldwide, such as Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin, MOPA in San Diego, and The Other Art Fair in London. Some artworks are selling as fine art cards in museums and gallery shops in Zürich and locally in The De La Warr Pavilion.
Locations: United Kingdom
Categories: Fine Art, Nature, Photographer