Meet the surrealist photographer who draws from ‘90s sci-fi classics

“I have the most common goals: live to be 200 years old, build a museum in my name, and kiss every day,” says Anna Poleteli, a Russian-born, Helsinki-based creative powerhouse who has mastered everything from photography and art direction to set and costume design. Through encouragement from her loved ones, Poleteli’s passion for her craft blossomed into a successful career when she moved to Finland five years ago, following her studies and work in film.

“In a way, I’ve always loved creating images and working with different materials. When we moved to Helsinki, I had to take a break, learn new languages and adapt,” the artist, who’s in her early thirties, tells me. “I started doing my portraits and shared them on Instagram to keep in touch with my friends from Russia. Little by little I just kept doing it, I got my first good camera. And already during the pandemic, I caught this flow in its own way – the first commercial job appeared, great interest, a community in Helsinki. I am happy in this business.”

Browsing Poleteli’s work on Instagram (@poletelianna), one’s eyes are immediately drawn to her distinctive and eccentric approach, or, as Poleteli puts it, her “magical technique, that is, a pinch of ironic surrealism”. I ask where she gets the inspiration for her imaginative work, and the answer is straightforward: “The most important thing is that I look around constantly... I try to be as attentive to life as I can. I think a lot.”

Related: #MyVogueScandinavia: How this photographer uses Nordic light to create melancholic yet beautiful images

The creative also notes another key source of inspiration: her childhood. “After all, the artistic, technical and visual taste can be stolen from the work of colleagues. But childhood and adolescence are truly unique experiences, and I still feed on them.” For her Vogue debut, Poleteli created images that take their cues from a world she’s very familiar with: cinema. Inspired by the aesthetics of 1990s sci-fi action flicks The Fifth Element and Total Recall, Poleteli captured her friends and fellow artists, clad in up-and-coming Finnish designers Autuas Ukkonen and Nour Ainasoja.

“I started it as an ecological tale about a girl from another planet who saw a big disaster. We came up with such interesting characters – I would call it ‘naive cyberpunk’.” Being featured on these pages marks an important milestone for Poleteli. “I perceive Vogue Scandinavia as a magazine that people really like and that leaves a mark on history, and this is just what I need,” she says. With her work, she wishes to awaken curiosity. “My favourite emotion is the desire to ask a question. It can only be when there has been a truly magical contact with art. How many questions would we ask Michelangelo if he accidentally got into our time, can you imagine?”

Use our hashtag #MyVogueScandinavia on Instagram for a chance to be on these very pages.