As human beings, part of our nature is always looking ahead. Our dreams and visions for the future also manifest widely in our art and creative pursuits, photography included. With the rise in popularity of the neon aesthetic, more and more photographers are exploring visual interpretations of the cyberpunk, a sci-fi sub-genre which uses a lot of neon elements.

Among them is Russian art photographer Dmitry Rogozhkin, who imagines a slice of cyberpunk Russia through a meticulously crafted conceptual photography project.

I actually find it exciting to see that more and more photographers are exploring their own visions of the future through cyberpunk-colored glasses, so to speak. So, if this colorful visual style has also caught your eye recently, I’m sure you’ll get some ideas and inspiration from this short series.

Envisioning the age of technology

For “Cyberpunk Russia,” Rogozhkin looked into his own vision of the big role technology will come to play sometime in the future. The “Age of Technology,” he said, will see global issues disappearing wherein progress becomes the vaccine against poverty, hunger and wars. However, he also warns that greed will pervert the rapid technological growth that can bring about this beautiful future.

It was this cautionary tale that inspired him to imagine his side of Russia in a cyberpunk future — a dystopian outlook that is often succinctly described as “low-life and high tech.”

“I created an interpretation of the life of people from my village who in the near future are forced to do an underground operation due to the lack of alternatives. And this is only a moment of that future life.”

Breaking down the art

Rogozhkin also broke down the technicalities that went into the creation of his cyberpunk vision. This mainly covered how he designed the lighting for the project using mostly permanent household light sources that he used at home, including RGB bulbs and desk lamps.

“In the role of fill light, I used a cool blue neon, located behind the scenes. Here I had three special photos of a lamp with a temperature of 3000 Kelvin,” he said, paired with a diagram of the setup. “And also, I used two Broncolor light sources. A Siros 400 L is located in the center of the frame behind one of the heroes with a red filter. A Siros 800 L was located behind the location and played the role of backlight.”

Meanwhile in the picture above, he used a Syros 400l as the main light source. “On the left side of the frame, we have a RGB paw that can change color to any shade, as well as cold neon behind the scenes in the role of fill light.“

Hopefully, “Cyberpunk Russia” was able to give you an idea on how to craft an eye-catching visual narrative through carefully crafted lighting setups. It’s certainly something to try if a colorful and futuristic photography project is next on your to do list!

Don’t forget to visit Dmitry Rogozhkin’s website and Behance portfolio to see more of his work.

All photos by Dmitry Rogozhkin. Used with Creative Commons permission.