Selecting a Location
for a Character-Based Photo Shoot
When organizing a photo shoot centered around a prominent figure, the location is carefully chosen to reflect the individual’s creative legacy or professional background. The environment becomes part of the narrative, visually reinforcing the themes associated with the subject’s work.
In the case of J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, we have chosen the ruins of a lyceum destroyed during the war. This powerful and symbolic setting echoes the darker motifs of her storytelling—conflict, loss, and the triumph of the human spirit. Ms. Rowling will be invited to be photographed on location amid the ruins, where fiction and reality converge in a hauntingly poetic image.
Ruins of the lyceum building at 220 Taras Shevchenko Street, Kharkiv. | This is the legacy the so-called “Russian world” leaves behind—schools, churches, museums, and homes reduced to rubble.
Previsualization Shoot
Once a location is selected—in this case, a war-ravaged lyceum chosen with J.K. Rowling in mind—a stand-in photo shoot is conducted to visualize the concept. This previsualization involves staging two to four, sometimes more, fully costumed scenes that align thematically with Rowling’s creative world. These preliminary images serve as artistic proposals and will be presented to Ms. Rowling, should she agree to travel to Ukraine for the actual shoot.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Project by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF
Stand-in previsualization shoot for J.K. Rowling, staged on the ruins of a lyceum in Kharkiv, destroyed by the Russian army.
Koshman Vladimir as Harry Potter
Grun Natalia as Joanne Rowling
Conducting the Principal Photo Shoot
Should the invited figure accept the proposal and agree to participate, they will be met in a designated European country and accompanied by an escort to the prepared filming location. Upon arrival, the stage will be fully set, ensuring a seamless transition into the main photo shoot, with all technical, artistic, and logistical elements carefully arranged in advance.
Creative Direction
by a Renowned Expedition Photographer
This project is led by a world-renowned visual artist with five decades of experience in extreme photo and video production. My career spans high-stakes expeditions—from filming atop Mount Everest for the Coca-Cola Company to capturing the depths of Borneo’s underwater caves for the Discovery Channel and its international counterparts. These shoots were carried out in remote, often inaccessible regions long before the word “tourism” ever reached the local populations.
I have filmed beneath the ice of Antarctica, across every major mountain system on Earth, among fire-breathing volcanoes, dense jungles, barren deserts, and beneath the waters of all the world’s oceans. You can place complete confidence in my ability to orchestrate the most logistically and creatively demanding productions.
For the past 12 years, I have worked extensively in Ukraine and possess an intimate understanding of the terrain, logistics, and cultural landscape required to execute large-scale photo shoots in this region with precision and impact.
Who Is MFF?
