I am not exactly sure why, but I've been thinking a lot about Russia lately in a very vague way. It could be because my mom gave me an amazing slideshow recently of her chromes from a solo 1960's trip there...No, not hippie-60's...we're talkin post 50's, 60's...And her photos were amazing.
What I found unreal was the countryside of Russia, the minute you left the cities, she said, it became totally different- like going back in time. I was struck by the unbelievably decadent, strangely mournful, east/west asthetic.
So, this week when I came across Andrew Moore's photography in a book called RUSSIA I was ecstatic; since, believe it or not, "Find photos of weird parts of Russia" was on my mental to-do list. I was not disappointed. Moore's work really captures that certain something about Russia which so touched me when I looked at my mom's photos...They all have a glow and a space, and a fecundity and a tragic decadence that is something you can almost feel. Both the images I've posted are from this body of work.
Mark my words, Moscow is the next Tokyo is the next Kiev is the next Mexico City. I hope so. For me, it's an asthetic I'm absolutely entranced by.
Other works that spoke to me in a similar way--although in a more disturbing way, so don't click this link unless you really like documentary photography at it's most glaring, are by Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov who showed at the ICA here 2 years ago and taught here at Harvard. His works show the Ukraine in a mysterious, almost inhumane light...a country that is almost unrecognizable for all the scarification of it's troubles. His body of work is fascinating, and Saatchi UK has quite the collection on thier site. So.
I`m happy that I found your beautiful blog!
Posted by: Katrine | Sep 11, 2006 at 04:12 AM