Exhibitions

Sergei Sveshnikov

 First of All, to the Technology of It

 ROSPHOTO presents ‘Fragments' by Sergei Sveshnikov

These photographs possess a virtue that can surprise both the audience well acquainted with the author and, equally, those who see his works for the first time.

This time Sveshnikov refused to create a ‘project':space subordinate to gestures and allusions easily read by the audience, and thus entered a game both risky and exciting. Naturally, an experienced guest will remember the names of Karl Blossfeld and Wilson Bentley, the leaders of New Objectivity group - and won't be mistaken: Sveshnikov's ultimate attention to the world of plants turns a picture of a fern into something to be rather called a portrait. The artist observes one other requirement of the tradition. Blossfeld experimented with optics stretching camera's bellows and created a photocamera unique for his time. Sveshnikov, too, proclaims the importance of the right choice for sharpness area.

However, similarities are limited to the above mentioned characteristics and, possibly, also the fact that it is almost impossible to date the ‘Fragments' (whether by end of XIX century or our time). And it's beyond this limit that the most interesting things start. Next to recent photographs of plants and trees the exhibition places images of people shot a couple decades ago. A lonely profile at an empty patisserie table in Vassilievsky Island, a child with a doll at a common Leningrad scrapyard shot quite carelessly, on the move, but with an ‘incidentally' right balance of light and shadow, find their place next to images of inanimate nature. And one is left to wonder what calculations are put in the basis of this unexpected naturalness, or to trust the familiar judgment that ‘freest associations are most correct'.

Sergei Sveshnikov. First of All, to the Technology of It

Analogous photography interests me much more than digital because it has a much wider range of possibilities. Analogous photography (photography made using film) starts with choosing a subject. First of all, a clear plan, a story appears in photographer's head. It is somewhat like shooting a good film: preproduction takes place only before the shooting itself starts. Similarly, a photographer should have a clear understanding what he will do and in what order. This affects the choice of negative material, light conditions, processing mode, positive process parameters. Additional processing can include toning, chemical processing using metallic salts, chromic salts processing (when the ready made print is used as matrix) and conclusive retouching.

    

Sergei Sveshnikov was born in 1959. He lives and works in Saint-Petersburg. His teacher in photography was Oleg Bakharev, one of the leading photography masters of the 1970-ies in Leningrad.

Sergei Sveshnikov has had 15 personal exhibitions and took part in over 50 group shows in and outside Russia, including:
"Photos on St.John's Day" (1994), Borey Gallery, St.-Petersburg
"Keme Art" (1995), Manezh Gallery, Moscow 
"Keme Art" (1995), Johannesburg Biennial 
"Still-Lives" (1996), Selskaya Zhizn Gallery, St.-Petersburg 
"Portraits" (1997), Alexey Gorky Palace of Culture, St.-Petersburg 
"Just Photographs" (1998), St.-Petersburg University, Faculty of journalistics 
"The Heart of Darkness" (1999), Borey Gallery, St.-Petersburg 
"Here and There" (2000), Cardiff College of Arts, Wales 
"Roll of Honour" (2001), Selskaya Zhizn Gallery, St.-Petersburg 
"Portrait of an Old House" (2002), National Centre of Photography and St.-Petersburg Society "A-Ya"
"Identification" (2005) Zverev Center of Contemporary Art (Moscow), National Centre of Photography (Saint-Petersburg)
"Enthropy" (2005) Jam Hall Cinema gallery (Saint-Petersburg)
"Homo Photos. Photographers' Self-Portraits" (2005) National Centre of Photography - Museum of City Sculpture (Saint-Petersburg)
"Positive Processes" (2007) National Centre of Photography (Saint-Petersburg), Modny Dom Gallery (Omsk).
"Roll of Honours-2" (2006), Asa-Art Gallery, St.-Petersburg

Sergey Sveshnikov's works are part of the collections of Zverev Center of Contemporary Art (Moscow), some are owned by various museums and private collectors in Germany, Spain, France and Scotland. During his work at Leningrad Popular Science Film Studio in 1983-89, Sergei Sveshnikov took part in the creation of over twenty documentaries (directors D.Delov, A.Sidelnikov, A.Karpushev, N.Makarov and others). Sveshnikov's photographs were published in albums "Ladoga. It's Not Late Yet" (1987) and "Tragic December" (1989) printed by Planeta publishing house.