For two months, she was rendered virtually immobile. Unable to read or watch television, Vera passed her time meditating about life, watching her fingernails grow and photographing her condition with an iPhone received four days after the accident.
Only able to move her arm, the iPhone became Vera's visual connection with her beaten body, and the resulting pictures can be seen in a moving exhibition at the Gallery na Solyanke.
"I lost about 15 kilograms," she said. "This transformation was important to me as a girl, and, unable to lift my head, the only way I could see my legs, for instance, was through the lens of my iPhone."
Uvarova proceeded to capture her recovery through photography, producing a dramatic and intimate view of her conditions and surroundings.
She was restricted to hospital life for close to three months, but the exhibition focuses on the first transformative 800 hours, hence its title, "800 Hours on My Back with an iPhone in Hand. How I Was Born Again with the Help of Photography."
As you might expect, the majority of the photos focus on Vera herself, restricted by her range of mobility. A leg stained the color of rust by iodine; a head shaven almost clean of all hair; a mother leaning over her wounded daughter; a forehead scratched and bruised.
More unexpected, however, is the strength of the artistry and emotions conveyed. Through the simple means of an iPhone, Uvarova conveys the range of emotions felt by an individual in the process of recovery. Fear: a head shot, eyes reddened from weeping, a white plush doll caressing her stricken face; humor: lips, moving in for a kiss with the lens; interest: lips pursed and pulled to one side, one eyebrow raised higher than the other as the subject is wheeled on her hospital bed through a bright, green park; determination: lips slightly upturned in a confident smirk, blue eyes piercing hard and directly into those of the observer.
"The exhibition is a means of presenting this important part of my history. The accident was the turning point in my life, giving me a new perspective on the world," said Uvarova, who has since decided to pursue photography as a career.
The exhibition is an attempt to "bring hope to viewers," she said, using her own experience as an example of determination to fight, determination to find joy and determination to live. The works are more than a collection of artwork, more than just photographs of an injured individual, but rather a depiction of the strength and power of the human body and will.
Uvarova's photographs are on display at the Gallery na Solyanke, 1/2 Ulitsa Solyanka, Bldg. 2. Metro Kitai-Gorod. Till May 10. www.mdf.ru.
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