Electrify Magazine - 'In The Raw With Surrealist Photographer Duo Synchrodogs'

Natural, irrational and appealing are the methodical descriptors the photography duo known as Synchrodogs chose to characterize their work. Although untraditional in nature, these attributes prove iconic and true for all of their photos.

Tania Shcheglova, the model, and Roman Noven, the photographer, prefer to shoot with film, allowing for a more “colorful,” and honest representation of their surroundings. Viewing the world through an open-minded lens, the Ukrainian couple passionately strives to share their optimistic worldviews contrasted with the natural beauty of the human form within each photo.

Despite their pledge to avoid “too much Internet,” and to stay far away from art blogs and magazines as means for inspiration, Shcheglova and Noven first met in an online photography website forum. Sharing a similar taste inphoto style, Scheglova and Noven experienced an instant connection and, soon after, birthed the world-wide, and mostly nude, photo phenomenon known as “Synchrodogs.”Since their initial emergence into the art world as a twosome in 2008, Synchrodogs’s artwork has become a viral movement, leaving an iconic mark in the digital world and beyond. Their rapidly growing popularity has even earned them an impressive resume of accomplishments, from editorial work for New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and Dazed & Confused to campaigns for companies like Urban Outfitters, Swarovski, SHISEIDO, and more. The duo has been most recently awarded the ‘Best Fine Art Photographer Award’ by Vogue Italia, bringing their success to new heights. 

Today, while Synchrodogs pride themselves on “creating images with a beautiful disregard for the ordinary,” and continue to “push boundaries and challenge convention with [their] pictures,” they also remain humbled by their world travels and continue to promote the preservation and celebration of the planet’s natural-born beauty.

Where does the name SYNCHRODOGS come from?

It is just something we associate ourselves with — dogs as best friends of humans whose souls belong to endless fields and whose thoughts are absolutely synchronised with each other.

If you had to summarize your style of photography in three words, what would they be?

Natural, irrational, appealing.

What do you love about workingwith older cameras and film, as opposed to the latest, DSLR high-quality cameras?

We do not work with low-quality cameras. We work with professional 35mm and medium format cameras because there is nothing digital cameras have to offer. Film gives us more freedom in terms of colors and depth, and it helps us control the process of shooting, as we know we only have several shots instead of a hundred, and they need to be perfect.

What are some major differences you’ve experienced in working together as opposed to working solo?

We never tried working separately. Before we met, we wouldn’t call it  “working” separately, just studying. It wasn’t until we met each other that we became photographers.  Before that, we never took it seriously.

In today’s Internet age, it is easy to quickly search for artists, share artwork and explore inspiration. However, this overwhelming accessibility leaves a lot of room for copycats and even unintentional artistic mimicking when searching for inspiration. How do you find organic inspiration and maintain true originality with your work?

We try to avoid too much Internet, no art blogs or magazines as well; otherwise, it would be too easy to lose ourselves. We like taking inspiration from dreams. We also use our own meditation technique to acquire ideas. And of course, nature inspires us a lot; it is truly a happy place for us.

Your images are beautifully haunting, both unforgettable and eerie. What message or mood do you aim to convey through your work?

We would like people to see the natural world with as much fascination as we see it and feel how eternal it is. We would like people to appreciate this planet more. At the same time, we simply want to fulfill people’s need for beauty and inspire them to live a better, more pure way of life.

How do you feel the art of photography differs the Ukraine in the U.S.?

It’s hard to compare Ukraine with its several photographers to the U.S. with thousands of artists, just in New York alone. Ukraine is good for other things, like people who are very helpful and sympathetic, or the surrounding nature. We travel a lot these days, all over the world, and we don’t really shoot in the Ukraine anymore, but we think nowadays the lines are so blurred with the Internet, that soon it will n