Ethereal Portraits of Women Who Look Like They’re Straight Out of a Fairy Tale

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Inspired by fantasy and fairytales, photographer Bella Kotak creates ethereal images that combine sumptuous color and bountiful nature. Her portraits of women fuse flowers, gorgeous fashion, and picturesque settings, resulting in moments that seem plucked from the pages of a storybook.

Kotak masterfully composes her fantasy photography to be meticulously constructed. This can be attributed to her training as an architect, which is where she learned about the power of photography in the first place. “Whilst in my Architecture course,” she told My Modern Met in 2015, “I was introduced to Photoshop and also to Flickr where I saw many young artists using the program to realize their visions.” She started taking one photo a day for 365 days and became “more and more obsessed” with the technical parts of photography—such as the lens, composition, and color toning. Now, one picture might take her months of planning!

Since last featuring Kotak’s work, she has started a company with retoucher Pratik Naik. Called Fine Art Actions, it makes available Photoshop actions and color collections that you can apply to your own images.

Bella Kotak creates meticulously composed fantasy photography that looks plucked from a storybook.

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fantasy Photography by Bella Kotak

Fantasy Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fantasy Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fairytale Photography by Bella Kotak

Fantasy Photography by Bella Kotak

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned her BFA in Illustration and MFA in Illustration Practice. Sara is also an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, a studio where she stitches pet portraits and other beloved creatures. She chronicles the creativity of others through her website Brown Paper Bag and newsletter, Orts. Her latest book is Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread, published in 2014. Sara’s work has been recognized in Be Creative With Workbox, Embroidery Magazine, American Illustration, on Iron and Wine’s album Beast Epic, among others. When she’s not stitching or writing, Sara enjoys planning things that bring together the craft community. She is the co-founder of Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops in the Seattle area.
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