Although raised strictly Russian Orthodox, Tamarra Kaida already rejected traditional religious values as a teenager. Nevertheless, her photographs since the early 1960s reveal a search for a deeper meaning beyond superficial appearances. She is certainly more concerned with life than with art and describes her search for the meaning of life as a search for the sacred.
Her early photographs are not directly focused on the mystical like her current work, instead focusing on the emotional development of children. She saw her own past in her subjects and tried to reflect her memories in more universal terms through her photographs.
The latest images are more concerned with the psychological and spiritual aspects of “fairy tales”. Regardless of our technologically complex times, we need to embark on a mythical journey where we expose ourselves to the question of the meaning of our individual existence and embark on a search for it.
from: Tamarra Kaida, FOTOHOF Info, issue 2+3/1985