Hi. My name is Viktorija, also known as - Liepa.

Liepa is my photography alter-ego, born out of a complex family history and serving as inspiration to seek realness and beauty during my time on this planet, often with a camera in my hands chasing candid moments.  

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Social Documentary work

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I see photography not so just as a tool to capture events but as a way to try to explore and understand the unnoticed layers of reality. My project-based work ranges from capturing the pure, raw, and mundane in my family village in Lithuania to discovering alchemic magic in the life of self-contained communities in the mountains of South Tenerife. 

In a world where photography often seems not only driven by social media but almost produced solely for social media, the value of authenticity and the value of simple yet profound power of candid, everyday moments to me feels like diamonds.

My photography centres around the values of connection, authenticity, and most importantly, underpinning these all: freedom. The most important word in my dictionary.

Living with no immediate danger in our eyesight, we almost routinely take for granted what we have and become consumed by playing “professional adults”, hiding under a mask of normality, or following a "framework" which society wants to see us fit in and obey to. We forget to pause, to be, and be ourselves. Appreciate the freedom to exist.
 

Brazilian JiuJitsu

Photography of Brazilian JiuJitsu came to my life as I found myself immersed in this unique community, being drawn to the matts like a magnet realising that I have discovered another home. As perhaps for many others the play of jiujitsu awakened “a child” in me, enabling a sense of connection and liberation which I did not foresee. It didn’t take long until I brought along my partner in crime - camera obviously - and started snapping away at my home New School Brixton dojo, and gradually moving up to taking photos of competitions and events.

That which I seek for in jiujitsu photography remains the same,- the pure, authentic moments. The journey, the nerves and the joys, the effort, the celebration. The infinite spectrum of feelings that comes with this game.