Daniil Lavrovski: A portrait on film

Project Title: "Daniil Lavrovski: A portrait on film" Role: Director, Editor

Challenge: How do you trace the journey of a photographer whose lens is shaped by displacement ? Daniil Lavrovski fled Russia as a child with his mother, trading instability for a new life in Belgium. This film explores how his refugee roots forged a rebel eye — one that finds beauty in fractured identities, transient subcultures, and the search for belonging.

Creative Approach: Shot entirely on Kodak Super 16, the film becomes a tactile extension of Daniil’s analog ethos. We trailed him from his cluttered Bruge based house (where vintage cameras double as decor) to rain-soaked skateparks and wind-battered seaside shoots, capturing his quest to immortalize a crew of fashion-forward skaters. The film’s texture — grainy, erratic, luminous — mirrors his still photography, blurring the line between his life and art.

Format: Short Documentary

Client: Independent Passion Project

Objective: Illuminate the symbiosis between Daniil’s skate roots, fashion curiosity, and photographic rebellion.

Tone: Larry Clark’s rawness meets Juergen Teller’s irreverence — unscripted, intimate, charged with restless energy.

Key Themes: Subcultural alchemy, authenticity in analog, the art of "documenting your tribe."

Super 16 Aesthetic: Embrace film’s imperfections — handheld wobbles in skateparks, and seaside golden hour flares.

Editing Rhythm: Cut to the cadence of skate wheels on concrete and camera shutters, juxtaposing quiet domestic moments with the adrenaline of shoots.

Sound Design: Crashing waves, scratchy vinyl records, and skaters debating fashion trends — a soundscape as layered as Daniil’s creative process.

Result: A visceral ode to subculture.

Why It Works: This film embodies my commitment to crafting portraits that feel like shared diaries. By embedding the camera into Daniil’s world — and trusting Super 16 to amplify its texture — the documentary becomes a manifesto: true creativity isn’t curated, it’s lived.