Nadya Lev Explained

Nadya Lev
Birth Name:Надя (Надежда) Лев
Birth Place:Moscow, Russia
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Temple University
Occupation:Game designer, photographer, editor, publisher, and entrepreneur

Nadya Lev (born in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian-American[1] photographer, editor, publisher, designer, and entrepreneur.

Early life

Nadya Lev spent her childhood in the USSR,[2] growing up in a Soviet dissident family.[3]

Career

Photography

Lev began her photography career at age 21,[2] shooting the 50th anniversary cover for fetish fashion magazine Skin Two.[4] Subsequently, her work was used by Vogue Italia,[5] MTV,[6] Dazed & Confused,[7] Elle, Marie Claire, New York Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, The Museum at FIT[8] and Nick Knight's SHOWStudio[9] in features on alternative fashion. Lev's work has been described as sitting at the crossroads of portraiture and fashion, with her subjects possessing an "almost surreal combination of hollow power"[2] and her work emphasizing "the model as storyteller rather than empty object."[10] Seeking to understand photography from her models' perspective,[11] Lev began posing as a subject for photographer colleagues. She has modeled for Clayton Cubitt, Allan Amato and Christopher Voelker.

In 2011, Lev became the second-youngest person in medical literature to be diagnosed with genetically-inherited PEX glaucoma.[10] [12] [13] She lost a significant portion of her vision and underwent 15 eye surgeries. After adjusting to hallucination-like distortions in vision, Lev re-trained herself in photography and resumed publishing new work.

In 2013, Lev was appointed as general manager[10] and later CEO[14] of Zivity, an art patronage platform for models and photographers founded by Cyan Banister.

Print publishing

Lev is one of the co-founders of Coilhouse Magazine – a print and web art publication established in 2007,[15] [16] together with Meredith Yayanos and Zoetica Ebb. The magazine's tagline was "a love letter to alternative culture, in an era where alternative culture no longer exists."[17] Coilhouse was widely acclaimed[16] [17] [18] for thoughtful coverage of art, music, fashion, film, technology and literature. Coilhouse has also been praised for its high production value[19] and original graphic design by creative director Courtney Riot.[20] Lev's design for the original Coilhouse website, inspired by Merz Magazine and El Lissitzky,[15] won L.A. Weekly's Best-Designed Site Aesthetic Award.[21]

In 2017, Lev announced that she was working on a Japanese coffee-table art book titled Eros & Thanatos, together with Tokyo-based art magazine editor Masanao Amano.[22]

Mixed reality

In 2016, Lev co-founded the technology company Aconite together with Star St. Germain.[23] Lev describes Aconite as "a mixed reality storytelling platform."[24] Lev and St.Germain define mixed reality stories as immersive experiences that sit at the intersection of adventure, narrative and gaming.[25] [26] The project draws on several gameplay, real-world exploration and storytelling traditions, including transmedia, psychogeography, escape rooms, and live-action roleplay.[27] [22] [23]

Aconite's first prototype was Limberlost, a location-based game with a magical realist narrative written by Steen Comer, designed to be played at any bookstore or library in the world.[26] The first playtest took place at Powell's Books during XOXO Fest 2016 in Portland. Players used their mobile phones to solve puzzles which led them through a sequence of physical books.[26] [28] Each book contained an illustration that acted as an augmented reality marker. When triggered, the markers displayed audiovisual data that provided clues for the next book in the sequence, and unlocked new parts of the game's narrative.[27]

In 2019, Aconite came out of stealth mode and announced their first title, HoloVista.[29]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Dayal. Geeta. 'Pussy Riot' Becomes a Rally Cry for Russian Expats. Wired . Wired Magazine. 28 June 2017.
  2. Web site: Giulian. Sez. Artist Interviews: Nadya Lev. Eros Zine. 28 June 2017.
  3. Web site: Lev. Nadya. Hacking the Magic Circle: Mixed Reality, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Machine. YouTube. Augmented World Conference 2017. 28 June 2017.
  4. Book: Mitchell. Tony. Skin Two Magazine Issue 50. September 2004. Tim Woodward Publishing. London, UK. 1899279814.
  5. Angiolani. Riccardo. Mania. Vogue Italia. October 2006. 674. 152.
  6. Web site: Ross Rowe. Andrew. What is Steampunk? A Subculture Infiltrating Films, Music, Fashion, More. https://web.archive.org/web/20140826002152/http://www.mtv.com/news/1595812/what-is-steampunk-a-subculture-infiltrating-films-music-fashion-more/. dead. August 26, 2014. MTV News. MTV. 28 June 2017.
  7. Eijiro Miyama's Advanced Style. Dazed & Confused Magazine. September 2013.
  8. Web site: Steele. Valerie. Gothic: Dark Glamour Exhibition. The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology. 28 June 2017.
  9. Web site: SHOWStudio presents Atsuko Kudo: Dressing for Pleasure. SHOWStudio. 28 June 2017.
  10. Web site: Ethics, Art & Good Business: A Conversation with Nadya Lev. Boekbinder. Kim. July 15, 2014. Artists on the Internet/Medium. 28 June 2017.
  11. Book: Amato. Allan. SLIP: Naked in Your Own Words. December 1, 2016. Baby Tattoo Books. 978-1614040156. 140–141.
  12. Lev. Nadya. Winter 2017. Anisko, MS. Karen Ryan. Weinreb, MD. Dr. Robert N.. Magic Eyes. Shiley Eye Institute "For Sight" 2017 Annual Report. University of California San Diego. 8–11.
  13. Web site: My Blade Runner Eyes. Lev. Nadya. 5 April 2017 . Folks Magazine.
  14. Web site: Loizos. Connie. Cyan Banister has a new startup, and it's looking for seed funding. TechCrunch. 25 April 2016 . 23 November 2017.
  15. Web site: Darling. Gala. I Want to Be... A Magazine Founder & Editor!. 10 November 2008 . Gala Darling. 28 June 2017.
  16. Web site: Meisner. Karen. Crime, Cryptohistory, Cthulhu, Culture, & Cyberpunk: Inside Coilhouse Magazine. April 2011 . IO9. 28 June 2017.
  17. Web site: Ohanesian. Liz. Coilhouse Co-Founders Zoetica Ebb and Meredith Yayanos Talk Comic-Con. L.A. Weekly. 23 July 2010 . 28 June 2017.
  18. Sterling. Bruce. Futurist Visions of the Present. Wired. Conde Nast. 28 June 2017.
  19. Web site: Jardin. Xeni. Coilhouse Vol. 2 on stands. Boing Boing. 26 February 2009 .
  20. Web site: Ruz. Christopher. Why Coilhouse Deserves Your $20. 28 June 2017.
  21. Web site: Broadley. Erin. Full of So Much Win: L.A. Weekly Web Awards. LA Weekly. 28 June 2017.
  22. Web site: Featured Speaker: Nadya Lev. World VR Forum. 28 June 2017.
  23. Web site: Matter Portfolio: Aconite. Matter Ventures. 28 June 2017.
  24. Web site: Borwing. Rebecca. A couple of pivots, lots of pitches, and a party.. Medium. 29 September 2016 . A Matter-Driven Narrative. 28 June 2017.
  25. Web site: Aconite. 28 June 2017.
  26. Web site: Let's Get Virtual: San Francisco New Tech Showcase. SFNT. 28 June 2017.
  27. Madeley. Dylan. Creative Spotlight: Nadya Lev. Auxiliary Magazine. 19 June 2017 . Spring 2017. 44–50. 28 June 2017.
  28. Web site: Comer. Steen. Limberlost. 28 June 2017.
  29. Web site: Aconite Comes Out Of Stealth And Announces First Game: 'HoloVista,' A Stunning Mobile Mixed Reality Experience. Damiani. Jesse. Forbes. en. 2019-12-01.