Entangled

The phenomenon called quantum entanglement2  is one of the main mysteries of modern physics. Entangled photons3 maintain a connection at any distance and exchange information instantaneously, in some sense, faster than the speed of light.4

I find something transcendental 5 in this inexplicable connection. Perhaps this is the source of all interconnections in the universe, both in our outer world and in the inner one.

These reflections motivated me to create a photography project where connections are illustrated through light, or in other words, photons. Photography is the perfect tool for this. I used in-camera multiple exposure without using a photo editor. Some shots required up to five exposures and many takes to get the desired result. In addition, the flower wilting was a challenge: to follow the concept and the structure of the project, I could not replace flowers or complete certain frames later. The project Entangled includes multiple series and it is currently in progress.

Love Song

But everything that touches you and me
Welds us as played strings sound one melody.
Love song, Rilke 1


The first series Love song fell during the pandemic in November 2020. Social distance increased the importance of social and mental connections for everyone. This was also true for me in particular. Thus, it encouraged me to put the project idea into action.

photo project Entangled by Eva Vasilyeva

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Where have all the flowers gone?
The girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Pete Seeger

The series, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?,” serves as a poignant anti-war statement. The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2023 have deeply affected me, my family, and my generation. This series delves into the entangled centuries-old relations between nations, which, under state flags and patriotic slogans, bring war and destruction. My mission with this project is to employ photography as a powerful tool to prompt reflection on history and inspire a future built upon the foundations of peace.

There is an interesting story behind the idea for the “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” series, which also perfectly illustrates the extent of the “entanglement” of our society, history, and art. In winter 2022 I saw Charles Ray’s pano Where Have All the Flowers Gone? in Center Pompidou and found a curious similarity with the initial draft of my project. But I was even more surprised when I read the history of the creation of the famous song, which is connected with my homeland. Pete Seeger’s English anti-war song was inspired lyrically by the traditional Cossack folk song “Koloda-Duda”, referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1934). The novel is considered one of the most significant works of world and Russian literature in the 20th century. It depicts the lives and struggles of Don Cossacks during the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the Russian Civil War. In 1965, Sholokhov was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for the novel. The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic people originating in southern Russia and eastern Ukraine, covering the territory of current military conflicts.

The series utilizes long-exposure photography techniques and in-camera multiple exposures to create images with flag colors. Each photo is cropped using aspect ratios of national flags. The series currently includes six photographs: Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, Israel, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

1 Love song (1918) by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Jessie Lemont (1918)
2 More about Quantum Entanglement 
3 More about Photons
4 More about Quantum Teleportation
5 More about Immanuel Kant’s Transcendental Logic 

Edition of 10 plus 2 artist’s proofs (including all formats).
Each fine art print is numbered, signed, and delivered with a Hahnemühle certificate of authenticity. Formats and frames on request.
©Eva Vasilyeva 2020