Masha Demianova has been involved in fashion imagery since well before first picking up a camera: she studied journalism and creative writing and began her career as a photoshoot producer for the Russian version of L’Officiel. Moving to photography gave the 25-year-old Moscow native a chance to bring a cinematic breadth and distinctly female perspective to the genre. Demianova mostly works in Moscow, with long stints in New York and LA, but the space her subjects tend to inhabit is one of visual narratives, fictional and universal. She’s managed to elevate the trivial genre of model tests to that of art, and likes to take her protagonists as far as possible from the consumer machine of the fashion industry. The girls in her photos are a bit like her: self-absorbed, lean, pale and full of inner strength.