Uldus Bakhtiozina: Wry photos that turn stereotypes upside down

Artist Uldus Bakhtiozina uses photographs to poke fun at societal norms in her native Russia. A glimpse into Russian youth culture and a short, fun reminder not to take ourselves too seriously.
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[@Overonator]

I like her style.

[@Sweettart9467]

Totally! :D I'm so dying my hair again!

[@thomashogan4251]

Yesss

[@Sharpov1997]

For non-Russian speakers: the word irony has a slightly different meaning to it in Russian.

[@SIMKINETICS]

Sweet but crazy! Perhaps something got lost in translation. Slavic cultures have ways of thinking that seem quite foreign to people in the western countries. I would know this because my mother was 100% Slavic. It took me years to understand how brilliant she was because I, like my siblings, was raised totally in American culture. She first learned to speak, read & write English when she married my very-American father, who taught English grammar as a tutor; as I remember her, she was the most knowledgeable person I ever knew about grammar, spelling, punctuation & inflection, better than my father! It's a personally deepening experience to be exposed to the other margins of human behavior & expression If one is open to accepting what is strange. On a more shallow note, I wonder what Uldus looks like without the make-up!

[@emerald764]

Your mother sounds like an awesome lady :)

[@SIMKINETICS]

emerald764 Yeah, that's why I loved her. If she was still alive, she'd be 106 years old. She turned out to be a pretty talented mother who was down-to-earth & often wise in surprising ways. Thanks!

[@fredandpattychandler4130]

XXL daddy's d DC vds6

[@Fickle-Pixel]

What a bright soul!

[@obeefenn]

She is an inspiration for sure...her work shows an evident unique beauty in spirit. To thine self be true... :)

[@Fickle-Pixel]

Obee Fenn :)

[@lapticul]

funny that i find her to be a paragon of pretentiousness... bright or not.

[@destnylife3878]

'msubutefelur 'msur her bute flash

[@TheLivirus]

How can anyone look at that woman and think she's past due date? She's thriving!

[@lapticul]

when she said that she was begging for comments like yours... everybody knows it's not true, even the russians that are not 40-50-60 year old.

[@fantaseegaming]

A true man never conforms to social bullshit!

[@ChanelMee123]

Love everything about her!

[@mystical_cupcake]

She's gorgeous and special! I love this.

[@procrasti86]

TED is supposed to be about ideas worth spreading with a little glimpse into the speaker's work; not a place to advertise your work with a shallow, meaningles message

[@mctm1221]

Thanks ...this is so out of the box it is brilliant ... you will love it or disregard it depending on your current view of life.

[@Madsovic999]

She is so hot, especially the fire in her voice when she talks about her work.

[@lihaiyang10]

she is gorgeous

[@sunder5686]

am i the only one who is in love with her head dress?

[@kaleidojess]

I love her outfit, so sparkly, don't judge me :}

[@ChanShelly]

She is absolutely stunning.

[@alvarogaravito6185]

stereotypes are social beacons. we can't know everything about a certain group from the distance so stereotypes help us navigate society. they are useful and almost always well earned.

[@tdreamgmail]

I suggest you watch the recent Hans Rosling upload - how not to be ignorant about the world

[@bouncyhippo3220]

Buuuut they contribute to racism and they place people in a box without letting them express who they are first.

[@anuksilva5643]

Racism is natural

[@bouncyhippo3220]

Anuk Silva It's naturally evil.

[@SocratesAth]

Anuk Silva Dying of diarrhea is natural. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's a good idea.

[@lxc647]

Russian women are beautiful.

[@vikeyz1]

Have you ever been to mother russia ... they are as attractive as women in any other country.. You like her becuz russia and it's women are probably inaccesible to you or you are romanticising from one example ... All men fall for this

[@AA-uh3wv]

You are amazing!

[@esamiga]

Wonderful! Keep up the good work Uldus!

[@nermeens24]

Very talented and a sweet soul

[@sonjasayss]

If you watch this and all you have to comment on is how you'd marry her alright you've completely missed the message jeez

[@marvinparanoidandroid7935]

You know what's funny: She is 27, and this art has enabled her to speak on TED. And also, never understood people who want to break outside societal norms in which they are raised - and then want approval from the same people who maintain those norms.

[@igorkrupitsky]

In Russia, the average age at first marriage is 23. In US it is 27.

[@tsummerlee]

Funny, but she misunderstands "irony."

[@tsummerlee]

Puns aren't ironic.

[@tsummerlee]

rjn bon It's a great pun, but puns aren't ironic.

[@tsummerlee]

***** Goody, an expert. I still disagree.

[@tsummerlee]

rjn bon So, outside of Russian culture, the irony is lost. Got it. I never knew such a classic visual or literary concept required so much explanation. I was taught the contradictions are, or should be obvious.

[@Imperiused]

typesofirony.com/ might be of use to you.

[@warmleatherette]

She's the Russian Hellokitty.

[@sprucy434]

I think it is "contradictions",not irony. But she is a wonderful artist none the less... :)

[@irehernandez2882]

She's beautiful

[@DalmatianRachel]

beautiful!

[@lapticul]

i love how pretentious people debate this stuff seeking hidden truths, hidden messages and awe inspiring sensations within photos that want to be shocking but ... aren't. they're photos, nothing more. "you don't understand" "she uses this and that". she uses a camera and wants to portray something she finds interesting. these types of photos are as regular as people dying of famine... nothing special but another overpretentious "artist" with a button and a context. fucking brilliant.

[@JustOneAsbesto]

Where can I get one of those sweet hats?

[@JustOneAsbesto]

Get it? I'm being ironic.

[@towhatdegree]

That's what I was thinking

[@rudyperez9940]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA THIS GIRL WAS HALARIOUS!! 😂 Idk what exactly she was saying in her presentation but damn was it funny!! She should consider becoming a god dang comedian.

[@SweetGaBrownin]

Uniquely beautiful!

[@JohnOShaughnessy]

irony or not, that was enjoyable!

[@CommonUnity]

the trick is to never take anything seriously ;)

[@Nichoalsziv]

she should use the word juxtaposition and not irony to describe her art.

[@andrewpaul2817]

isnt juxtaposition when two ideas parellel eachother? Like one paragraph about the entertainment industry is juxtaposed by a following paragraph about television shows subsequently leading to a thesis on multitudes of forms of entertainment. Irony is where those ideas contradict eachother. So in a way she is using juxtaposition but shes being ironic to be more specific. Kinda like how a square is always a rectangle but a rectangle is never always a square. Unless you're talking in roots XD

[@fredandpattychandler4130]

+Andrew Paulxrr f cc c fzxgdx c mxh vee z

[@andrewpaul2817]

Tuuka yoshime degataye tashnegato hancipatuka leutodawai ewatsukimo gahani Ganesh

[@ParveenGodara]

Dont know what is the irony, she talking about.... but she is cute :*

[@ViolentKisses87]

Nice artist peice.

[@MedEighty]

She hasn't found someone yet? Well... that's ironic. :D

[@xMarkiMarki]

I volunteer, she's gorgeous!

[@Vandoren333]

Красивая девочка,но фото - сплошное клише и формат тут немного другой нежели "эй,глянь мой инстаграм".

[@lmo228]

уф, хорошо, что это было 10 лет назад, а не сейчас. Задушнила прям) но в то время да, молодец она)

[@afhdfh]

I don't really like TED-talks where people use the platform as self-promotion...

[@JellybellyWaffles]

You should try thinking harder if that's all you got out this.

[@IsYitzach]

All of the speakers talk about what they know. And they know the most about what they do. If you can aquire a product of their labor, then it is "self-promotion" and if you can't, then it is a "good TED talk?" Seems a bit off to me.

[@afhdfh]

I don't really think so. If you talk about things you produce, it's advertisement. If you talk about ideas worth following, it's inspiring. But maybe that's just me... :)

[@IsYitzach]

Clear not just you as a similar thought was shared above. But you might as well eliminate all of the artists, musicians, and authors because their all going to talk about their work even if they have something inspiring to say.

[@afhdfh]

Which is what I do. :)

[@smilegirl900]

I don't see who wouldn't want to marry her

[@zoyazosya]

Love! :)

[@geothermalenergysour]

She looks like Olga Kurylenko

[@maurarenom2254]

**loves her**

[@Shunarjuna]

Ohh... I'll marry you Uldus.

[@watermelon6602]

horrible pronunciation, but still very good and optimistic speech! well done

[@iranight2229]

What is "horrible pronunciation" to you is "adorable accent" to English speakers)))

[@watermelon6602]

now I know it, thanks)

[@TheGerogero]

But don't speak out against your government, otherwise you'll be indefinitely detained.

[@daand99]

There should be more of those people in russia

[@БУНалоговик]

i live in Russia but all i hear now is wrongly distorted..Author is not Russian, she is westernized kind of, thats all we should understand from her strange pile of words..

[@vladislavdmitriev2637]

I think it is not really fair interpretation of Yuldus's view you guessed because she studied in England but England doesn't indicate all Europe countries. European countries are different. It might be influence of nowadays english society or globalization or so but I am not sure and I dont excluding her own view on this. She told about that thing in one of her latest speeches.

[@grunta101]

Fabulous:)

[@Markus9705]

I think you don't grasp the concept of irony. But a good talk anyway.

[@heidiannemorris]

thought this was brilliant ULDUS BAKHTIOZINA ♥ :) #tum #fb

[@000crislee]

Love this Heidi Anne Morris! For some reason your posts are everywhere in my stream and all of them are interesting!

[@heidiannemorris]

Christina Lihani 😄

[@IzyaJohman]

XD!!!

[@trendior2503]

I wanna buy a girl with this accent.

[@zalworth]

Kaii what is the thing on her head called?? I want one XD

[@TashiDhawa]

her headdress looks mongolian

[@iamthejust]

I'm not sure about this. Maybe if you travel miles inland into an isolated village of Siberia,a classical ballet male dancer could be sucially unaccepted. I think this could happen anywhere... I think about Nureyev wich is one of the best dancers and athletes of XX century. He was Russian and he was a star even in Russia. I like the wordplay and visual... but I'm not so sure about the intellectual content... I am missing some links...

[@Flippables]

I see very little artistic value in her photos, other than a politicized message about "rigidity" of Russian society, which fits quite naturally into the overall western trend of Russia bashing.. If not for that she would had no chance to get on TED. Cute girl, though, I really like her headgear.

[@chill187]

Open a copy of national geographic and you'll see ironic photography. This girls seems interesting, but her pictures belong in a fashion magazine, not an art gallery.

[@alekseyalexej9665]

Today the cities of Bucha and Mariupol showed Russians in all their glory.

[@jgilgorri]

First time I've ever seen Russia in a positive light; too bad she wants to change it. Are they religious over there?

[@daxxonjabiru428]

i love you

[@Hiphop101ize]

Based god fuckd with this. This is very based. Based approved

[@AnyoneCanSee]

I hate to be critical of other artists but I really do not think a great deal of her work. I honestly believe that this work would not be given any notice if she wasn't incredibly beautiful and dressed in a way that would get her access to any gallery or art party in the world. I think her success is a product of her beauty and style rather than the quality of her work. Sorry to say.

[@vladislavdmitriev2637]

I agree with you in certain cases. Surely many of her earlier works are controversial and weird, but some her latest ones are not such at all. So I suggest to watch Uldus's latest speach on TEDtalks in 2017. I've just watched it. I must say her works significantly got much better - for instance some works became more deep and romantic with plenty of subtle details, and also extremely unusial made the way to express some unique personal dreams. As she explained there on her 2nd speech.

[@_s_s_world_]

this "art" is for souvenir shop but not for galleries or even TED... worst talk ever

[@Melusi47]

Dare to be dream?

[@iSina93]

?

[@eGGehh]

lal

[@ЮлияРепета]

Вже йде війна в Україні , а ця представниця культури в не політики -« вещает». Збираємо каміння 😮

[@stonail665]

nonesence ,both the girl and topic .

[@JayJ00ls]

This is dumb.

[@SweetGaBrownin]

Uniquely beautiful!