Experimentally processed photographs by Ewa Doroszenko refer to old and contemporary Japanese culture, i.e. both to modern aesthetics of kawaii, and to the stylistics and composition of the woodcuts from Edo period. Doroszenko’s works are purposefully frozen, drowned, torn, folded and subsequently photographed anew. Thanks to these manual operations, they develop a unique mysteriousness and moodiness.

In the years 2005-2008 the artist made several photographic series inspired by classical European fairy tales. Selected photographs became illustrations for a book entitled “Girls’ Bedtime Stories”. In my presentation, these photographs will be shown in the context of “sweet” Japanese adaptations of European fairy tales in manga and anime, as well as in comparison with anti-kawaii works by Miwa Yanaga from the series “Fairy tale”, which were created in the same years.