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Incredible Pagan-Themed Photoshoot By Polish Photographer Reveals Stunning Beauty Of Slavic Culture
When you think of Slavic culture, the first things that come to mind are probably vodka, fur hats, and the Orthodox church. Polish photographer Marcin Nagraba, however, wanted to show the world a more ancient view of Slavic people in his dark pictures - by dialing it all the way back to Pagan times.
Christianity arrived in this world between the 7th and 12th centuries, but before that, the region was a hotbed of Slavic mythology and polytheism. Though little is known to this day about the mysterious Pagan rituals, accounts by early Byzantine explorers describe the ancient Slavs as worshipers of thunder and earth - no doubt referring to Perun, the highest god of the pantheon and the Slavic equivalent of the Greek Zeus.
With the help of costume designer Agnieszka Osipa, the Warsaw-based visionary captures the breathtaking photoshoot idea which reminds us of the wonder and wisdom of ages past. Experience every cool photo for yourself below, and let yourself drift back in time for a moment.
More info: Marcin Nagraba, Agnieszka Osipa (h/t: DYT)
This post may include affiliate links.
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Sylvia Matusikova 8 years ago
The word "Budha" written in english with two Ds means awakened one. Word root is BUD- which is alive in all slavic languages. In Slovak - BUDIŤ - to wake up, BUDÍK - alarm clock.
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S. London Schertzer 8 years ago
I'm so in love with this image. Original, striking and unforgettable.
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Adam Troczynski 8 years ago
I'm pretty sure that would be Marzanna, goddess of death and rebirth.
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Marysia Jawłowska 8 years ago
I'm quite sure fruit trees don't bloom in autumn :)
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Sami Thompson 8 years ago
I like it! Great crown & costume - and the flowers offer beautiful contrast.
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
We get those Giants Centipedes in Bulgaria. They combine the ugly & beauty.
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Sami Thompson 8 years ago
The Queen of Big Bonnets & Chicken Feet - perfect! Strange, Odd, and Perfect!
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Marysia Jawłowska 8 years ago
those don't live in salty water as far as I know
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Julia Kawa 8 years ago
She create amazing things. I admire her work. I also saw her photos on https://www.maxmodels.pl/projektant-cheeer.html
Julia Kawa 8 years ago
She create amazing things. I admire her work!!! I also saw her photos on her profile on maxmodels -> https://www.maxmodels.pl/projektant-cheeer.html
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
The first pic my favourite, this number 2. I do think Pagan Celtic & Norse art is more aesthetically pleasing. Much of this seems to be from the dark side!
Katarzyna Modrzejewska 8 years ago
The elderly lady is the photographers mother. What a magnificent way of showing his love!
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Zana Berisha 8 years ago
Very similar (or the same) as "Nusja" - The Bride in Albanian tradition.
Ola Sui Juris 3 years ago
we the slavs barely know our past, but i can asure you this is more Slavic than you can imagine. Read more about Great Lechia, the Big Empire of Slavs. maybe then you will understand.
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Terri Rowland 8 years ago
The amount of work that went into making these costumes is amazing 💝 💕 💝 💕 💝 💕
sexy_scorpio_3MD 8 years ago
This looks like an image out of a high end fashion magazine! I love that it isn't and part of a cultural photo shoot!
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
I prefer my Ancient Briton deity known as Jack o' the Green. The Dryads friend the GREEN MAN. Our Jack promises life, this whispers death.
Derek Stocker 5 years ago
Similar to Ancient Briton's GREEN MAN or Jack i'th' GREEN. I prefer the friend of the Dryads Jack.
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
Bright Blessings TRINA ROSE. English is my mother tongue and I am no grammatical scholar. Unless you actually refer to her fingers is juxtaposition the correct word? Blessed BE!
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
Silver tears are from Dianna for I am the Huntress and my arrows fly true. From my crescent to my full womb the forest in the night is mine!
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
I bless the harvest of Dionysus for from my head emerge the twisted daggers of your fate!
Robin Mayhall 8 years ago
She has such beautiful hands! To me she looks like a widowed bride ... Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, but 1,400 years ago ...
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
We see what the Catholics stole from our ancestors. This modernised is Papal.
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
I tend to half agree. The bottom hand, in juxtaposition, seems mildly threatening!
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Sami Thompson 8 years ago
I didn't think of it until I read Bill Kuehl's comment, but yes - it DOES remind me of wedding cake icing. And look at that headpiece - wow!
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Sami Thompson 8 years ago
Love the headpiece, costume, & palm jewels - everything is beautiful!
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Sami Thompson 8 years ago
Everything is perfect - but the lace eyelashes are a teensy bit disturbing.
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
South American. Add colour could be Inca or Aztec. Even if there was contact the centuries do not match. I was going to mention Scarab/Dung Beetle but 8 legs - Arachnid - Parasitic Tick. The Wheat? Signifies? A successful harvest or votive offerings for the harvest to come? When did humans begin to cultivate winter wheat? I just find her lined features mesmerising.
Sami Thompson 8 years ago
Okay, this one rates a due to the incredible detail on the headpiece + the unique composition.
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
OK getting real. The bird skeleton I do not think is real, the bones look too dense. I think it is supposed to be a Raven. The fish look real - juvenile Perch - freshwater. Scissors had not been invented nor is the glass design ancient. As with many of these pictures the women are wearing Lace. If I recall my textile history lace only appeared in the 16th century, centuries after the majority of Pagans had either been murdered or forced to renounce nature & the true Gods.
Falco Ferraro 7 years ago
This photographer makes people uglier but the clothing prettier. I would prefer the other way around, especially the elder women who are NEVER allowed on media by artists.
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Sami Thompson 8 years ago
Love it - the costume, accessories, makeup, expression, everything. Well done!
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Terri Rowland 8 years ago
If I wear this my dog and every other dog from miles around would love me and follow me everywhere 🤗 💝 🌹 🌈 🐩🐶
Sami Thompson 8 years ago
Again, a for the magnificent crown; however, it also rates an for the necklace of chicken feet, which was undoubtedly a custom item.
DeMarie Ingraham 8 years ago
This headdress is stunning. Something so fascinating yet creepy about the painted nails on the chicken feet.
Desiree Napoleon 8 years ago
What do the chicken feet symbolize? I'm...overcome...these photos...<3.
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Terri Rowland 8 years ago
When I first looked at this one I thought that the antlers were attached to her boobies ❤ 🤣🤣🤣
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DeMarie Ingraham 8 years ago
I can't imagine how much time these elaborate dressings took to construct. They are incredible.
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DeMarie Ingraham 8 years ago
The black and white gives such a somber, mystical feel. In color, these would give a totally different viewpoint.
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Kirsten Preston 8 years ago
I'd preferred the face having the same colour hues the shoulder and head gear have. But thats just my opinion.
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Derek Stocker 5 years ago
The four horsemen are riding, the Reaper is in his chariot. Charon awaits of the banks of the Styx to ferry the animal killers to Hades! It is there that China will pay for crimes against the Earth Mother & Sister Nature!
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Tammy Chapman 8 years ago
Because of her eyes, you don't really see the costume. All you see is her big, kind of creepy, eyes.
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Sam Ledger 4 years ago
The only way he could get a sense of the Mother is to use a woman who isn't a child. thank you
Derek Stocker 5 years ago
She finally got her head around it having circled the hair (sic) brained question. Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair. Oops dear Rapunzel, sorry must dash, look at the time, I dare not miss my appointment!
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Bartek Banach 5 years ago
If you got all the way to 60 you probably recognized some patterns. Constant war since 3000bc sad slave history. I'd like to just cut off that bad intro. Person who writes the article has no knowledge of slav natives in Europe pre Christian times. And for our gods sake! Russians are eastern Slavs and are Wareg Viking descendants which puts their orthodox church and furry hats where they suppose to be. The photography shows a lot of Royal Polabian people culture as well as B.C. slav culture that was unfortunately conquered by Danes, great Roman Empire, Crusades etc. Beautiful take
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What do you think ?
Leni 8 years ago
The photos are really cool, but without a little more in depth explanation I feel like I still know jack s**t about slavic culture.
Renata Justkowski 8 years ago
That is because you are not 'feeling' the pics. Do they make you sad? Happy? There is a tone of death, pain, sadness in every pic, no matter how many pearls you throw in. This is because Poland has been through hell, and yet still is resilient, still here, after being wiped off the face of the globe 3x. I wouldn't expect anyone without at least a small understanding of the history of Poland to 'get' these images.
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aneys 8 years ago
I'm Polish and I have no idea what these pictures are supposed to represent.
elmartino 8 years ago
same here, I can hardly match these photos with deities
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Rose Symotiuk 8 years ago
This is cool and all, but different slavic countries are really different. Like Poland doesn't have an orthodox church (perhaps you've heard of some guy called Pope John II?) So was the description written by the artist? Also, would a Polish person say that they have no culture. You kindof can't walk around Poland for a second without running into a museum, statue, or concert hall. In fact, the artist's hometown has an enormous Mordor-esque communist building called the Palace of Culture. The photos are amazing but the headline and text are super confusing!
Gregory Hammer 8 years ago
You're focusing on recent history. What this article is referring to is that the world believes no people existed in Eastern Europe until Christianity came along and converted everyone... who did it convert, what were they like and what did they believe?
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Daria B 8 years ago
It started a couple of centuries earlier than the 9th century, but thank you for this list. It's interesting and beautiful.
Rokas L 8 years ago
Thank you for pointing this out, Daria! We have updated the text:)
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Marysia Jawłowska 8 years ago
The introdution is (indirectly) misleading - this are just conceptual photos that use some pagan imaginary, but not that much, and they are NOT illustrations of actual mythological characters. Most of them don't reference any known myths or legends at all and I don't think author ever claimed to do that. Doesn't change the fact that costume designer knows her job :)
lunanoir69 8 years ago
Stunning, absolutely stunning photography and the amount of work on the costumes and headpieces is breathtaking!!! I'm a pagan and a third generation Slav and I LOVE this photo shoot!!!
Dulia Masmas 1 year ago
I is importand to say, that the author of photoshoots clearly was inspired by traditional russian female costumes from XII - XVII centries, especially kokoshnik's, it has nothing to do witch slavic paganism.
Tomasz Zych 8 years ago
no slavic culture in this. just a random stuff inspired by slavic culture at best.
Leni 8 years ago
The photos are really cool, but without a little more in depth explanation I feel like I still know jack s**t about slavic culture.
Renata Justkowski 8 years ago
That is because you are not 'feeling' the pics. Do they make you sad? Happy? There is a tone of death, pain, sadness in every pic, no matter how many pearls you throw in. This is because Poland has been through hell, and yet still is resilient, still here, after being wiped off the face of the globe 3x. I wouldn't expect anyone without at least a small understanding of the history of Poland to 'get' these images.
Load More Replies... aneys 8 years ago
I'm Polish and I have no idea what these pictures are supposed to represent.
elmartino 8 years ago
same here, I can hardly match these photos with deities
Load More Replies... Rose Symotiuk 8 years ago
This is cool and all, but different slavic countries are really different. Like Poland doesn't have an orthodox church (perhaps you've heard of some guy called Pope John II?) So was the description written by the artist? Also, would a Polish person say that they have no culture. You kindof can't walk around Poland for a second without running into a museum, statue, or concert hall. In fact, the artist's hometown has an enormous Mordor-esque communist building called the Palace of Culture. The photos are amazing but the headline and text are super confusing!
Gregory Hammer 8 years ago
You're focusing on recent history. What this article is referring to is that the world believes no people existed in Eastern Europe until Christianity came along and converted everyone... who did it convert, what were they like and what did they believe?
Load More Replies... Daria B 8 years ago
It started a couple of centuries earlier than the 9th century, but thank you for this list. It's interesting and beautiful.
Rokas L 8 years ago
Thank you for pointing this out, Daria! We have updated the text:)
Load More Replies... Marysia Jawłowska 8 years ago
The introdution is (indirectly) misleading - this are just conceptual photos that use some pagan imaginary, but not that much, and they are NOT illustrations of actual mythological characters. Most of them don't reference any known myths or legends at all and I don't think author ever claimed to do that. Doesn't change the fact that costume designer knows her job :)
lunanoir69 8 years ago
Stunning, absolutely stunning photography and the amount of work on the costumes and headpieces is breathtaking!!! I'm a pagan and a third generation Slav and I LOVE this photo shoot!!!
Dulia Masmas 1 year ago
I is importand to say, that the author of photoshoots clearly was inspired by traditional russian female costumes from XII - XVII centries, especially kokoshnik's, it has nothing to do witch slavic paganism.
Tomasz Zych 8 years ago
no slavic culture in this. just a random stuff inspired by slavic culture at best.
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