Olga Bushkova (1988) is a Zurich-based artist. She was born and grew up in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. She graduated from Rostov State University with a Master degree in Applied Math. She began working with photography, both artistically and commercially, in 2011 when she and her partner moved to Zurich, Switzerland. To date Olga has produced two photo projects, “A Google Wife” (book published by Dalpine), and “How I tried to convince my husband to have children” (to be published by Witty Books). Olga’s books have been shortlisted or awarded at such festivals like: Prix Photoforum, Images Vevey Photobook Award, Unseen Dummy Award, FLIP Photobook Award, Author Book Reward at Les Rencontres de la photographie, Fiebre Dummy Award, Photoboox Award etc.
“How I tried to convince my husband to have children” is an autobiographical book about a woman’s obsession with becoming a mother and her constant discussions with her partner in order to convince him. Through a powerful visual narrative using mixed- media approach, combining photography with private diaries and conversations recordings, Olga Bushkova tells a bittersweet and moving story of a woman and her relationships with herself, her partner and the world, and how communication can sometimes be more important than finding answers.
"Is it just me or do you also discuss with your partner whether to have children or not? If so, then how many children? When? Why? Where does this idea to have them come from at all? I didn’t ask these questions myself when I was young. I always wanted to be a mother. I was always obsessed with children. Until I got married and understood that my husband had a different opinion. That he does ask those questions. He always offered rational arguments against the idea. His biggest argument was that women run the risk of turning into housewives if they become mothers before establishing themselves professionally. From 2008 onwards we had endless discussions about whether or not to have kids. I captured this journey in my book “How I tried to convince my husband to have children”. It includes photos, diaries, transcripts of dialogues with my husband and our archival pictures. It presents a dialogue between two opposite worlds, his and mine. The story in the book is not simply about children – it is about a couple, its struggles, aspirations and disappointments. " - Olga Bushkova
The project has been completed in the form of a book dummy and is due to be published by Italian publisher Witty Books in spring of 2020. In mid January Olga launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to support the book production.
