Nikolay
Bakharev
as
provocateur,
hoaxer,
artist
and
unwitting
documentarian
Ушла юность, а у кого то и жизнь,
но остались фотографии из провинции на которых мы видим, как уходит целая эпоха.
но остались фотографии из провинции на которых мы видим, как уходит целая эпоха.
the very interest in nudity lies in human nature
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
he became known in the West as the first Soviet photographer of erotic portraiture.
since then, there have been many photographers working with portraiture in more explicit forms, but it is Bakharev's work that stands alone
since then, there have been many photographers working with portraiture in more explicit forms, but it is Bakharev's work that stands alone
nikolai bakharev was born in 1946 in the village of mikhailovka (in what is now prokopyevsky district, kemerovo oblast). when he was four years old, his parents died and nikolai was transferred to an orphanage, where he wasand was brought up until his adulthood
he is often called an anthropologist, a researcher of provincial everyday life. the photographer does not keep a distance between himself and his subject, he is put on a par with other masters of exposure tricks, he is engaged in the search for individuality in a country brought up in the spirit of collectivism
nikolai bakharev was a russian photographer who differed from others by his peculiar and even unique approach to photography. his uniqueness lies in the fact that in his works he tried to capture the life of ordinary people of the period of the union of soviet socialist republics. since Bakharev is a free photographer, it is not uncommon to see the openness, frankness and naked soul of those being photographed in his images.
bakharev took pictures to order for city residents, working as a photographer first in the consumer services service, then in the art fund of novokuznetsk. in 1991, he received the title "best photographer of russia" and at the same time became a member of the union of photographers of russia
from the "attitude" series.
the beach in the closed soviet society was a place where one could freely communicate with the public with a camera in hand. the beach was a place of authorized and permitted nudity. on the beach, body plasticity was more visible, people were naked and not afraid of anything. on the beach, bathers could afford more than just bathing: people came, lay down as they wished, hugged as they wished
the heroes of his photographs are ordinary people who lived in the late period of the history of the union of soviet socialist republics. the author's approach to photography, his desire for maximum openness and violation of existing taboos is unusual for that time. bakharev's work is characterized by frankness and eroticism. at the same time, nudity in his works successfully fits into the visual series of late soviet everyday life
/1985
/1985
/1978–80
/1991–93
/1995
/1991–93
"only a fraction of these people are in the frame, and the rest depends on my perceptions of them. and that's how our work comes out. so now you see the culture of the time in which I lived. only few people want to admit it"
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/...
/...
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in order to reveal the inner world of a person, it is necessary to change the form of clothes, there must be a strange, peculiar cut. but it is better to have no clothes at all, because it is impossible to make an inner, psychological portrait without removing masks. and when a person has undressed, there is nothing left to hide
human
fragility
relations
insecurity
gaze
bodily
vulnerability
/1991–93
/1991–93
/1991–93
"there are pictures of a carpet with reindeer in the frame. and I remember this rug from my childhood, because the same one hung at my aunt's house. there were times when I needed to fill an empty space very quickly, to design it aesthetically, and I threw into an empty corner either something of my own or something that the clients had. i have a book, they have a reindeer rug"
/1989
/...
Nikolai Bakharev's exhibitions are like the apotheosis of the Russian soul
the longride was made by nastya nagiyan
*all materials are taken from public sources and belong to their owners
"in these portraits there is a reflection of what was happening between myself and the clients. in the process of shooting, relationships emerged and manifested themselves, which I tried to capture in the works: it was the attitude of the vacationers to me, my attitude to them and the relationship between us"
"i didn't violate ethics, I only violated public morality, but art doesn't deal with that. art deals with individual morality. and I do individual morality too. only when you do something for yourself and not for someone else, then that something appears."
from the "sofa" and "interior" series.
the main thing is to achieve authenticity within a chosen aesthetic. when you are forced to photograph a contingent not always desirable for creativity, they often reveal things that others cannot. that's where the main value lies
from the "TYPES" series.
gone are the youth, and some people's lives, but we still have pictures from the provinces, where we see a whole era passing away
