Contemporary Russian Photography

Contemporary Russian Photography is the subject of the FotoFest 2012 Biennial. The Biennial publication is an extensive representation of the evolution of creative photography in Russia from the Khrushchev period of the late 1950’s through the wild experimentalism of Perestroika and its aftermath in the 1990s to the work of young Russian photographers today. The presentation of Russian photography shows the remarkable breadth of the photographic arts in Russia over the past 56 years. The essays provide a re-examination of the history of creative photography in Russia after Stalinism. The Russian art works are part of a two-volume publication with essays and images representing the renowned Biennial’s major exhibitions. The publication contains over 300 color images, curatorial essays, artist and curator bios, with website information. The history of Russian creative photography since the late 1950s, its artists and art works are the subjects of essays by the leading Russian curators and independent art historians, Evgeny Berezner and Irina Tchmyreva, Ph.d. As Deputy Director General for photography and multi-media projects at the ROSIZO State Museum and Exhibition Center of the Russian Ministry of Culture, Mr. Berezner curated over 150 exhibitions of contemporary and classical Russian photography. Irina Tchmyreva is the senior researcher for photography at the Department of Russian Art of the 20th Century in the State Research Institute of Art History in The Russian Academy of Fine Arts. She has written widely on Russian photography.