Yuri Molodkovets

Yuri Molodkovets

Thanks to Yuri Molodkovetz who, beyond his official duties, is the artistic photo chronicler of the State Hermitage, we can see both formal and backstage life of this famous museum. He told to the Utro Peterburga about the sources of genius ideas, the exhibitions he would like to see in the Hermitage, and how to adorn photos by the lack of colors.

 

The projects which can be named your hallmarks are related to the Hermitage. Often these are black-and-white photos. Why?

Other few last years I’m engaged in art photography. In some degree this is the know-how of our museum. Essentially, photos are a kind of auxiliary tool: exhibits are photographed for catalogues, research publications, restoration projects etc. Our job is devoted to the past, and this is a very important task, but current museum activities shall be conceptualized in a meaningful manner, both at the level of photo reports and artistically. 

I believe that it was the Hermitage with its strong and deep environment which fostered me as a photographer. Making numerous photos of museum exhibits I learned how to comprehend art and started to imagine background stories full of different meanings and sincerity.

This is the strength of museum art and classical art in general. Why do we use this commonplace phrase: “classical art”? Because we can reiterate it at different age and receive new fresh impressions. I thank that we lack freshness and sincerity here and there. 

I got here by chance and very soon realized that this museum is not only unique. This is the best place in the world. My New Hermitage project which is well known now, a series of black-and-white photos of Italian sculpture wrapped in polyethylene film, was conceived without intention: I was on my way to the Nikolaevskaya Staircase to make some photos for the anniversary leaflet. Restoration of ceilings was underway, and work platforms were installed. A normal photographer would turn back and report that, speaking formal language, no photos can be made because the requested location is under reconstruction. But I saw that these sculptures were mysteriously beautiful, so I took my photographic equipment and set up light to display two materials: eternal marble and instantaneous polyethylene. This series is truly unique: the sculptures stayed wrapped in polyethylene for a short while, the photos are exhibited for over 15 years.

I went on to interpret the museum environment from artistic viewpoint, and about 10 years ago thought about another project called “Seclusion. Hermitage at Night”. The idea was to show how the museum rooms look without lights and visitors, at the time when the masterpieces remain alone. I spent about nine months to make these photos using a tripod and black-and-white films. This is an unique project because these scenes cannot be seen “in real life”. If you ever visit the museum at night, the attendants would switch on the lights to save you from hitting anything in darkness, and would not leave you alone. Thus, you cannot feel this “seclusive” mood. It can only be seen through the photographer’s eyes.  I managed to grasp this feeling of seclusion where the brilliant masterpieces remain alone lit by moonlight or street lighting. I believe that they experience something special in this intimate aura and take rest from the overwhelming attention of the visitors.

From time to time I still meet people who remember this project. This is a great compliment: we live in the world which is full of different kinds of photos and can remember and recall only rare pieces. Artistic interpretation of the museum environment is continued. And I know for sure that this is a worthy job for the audience: I keep instagram account of the museum at @hermitage_museum and can see that artistic photos always receive much more likes in comparison with photos in the “news report” format. Currently I make a series called “Sun in the Museum”. This job proceeds without any hurry. Many museum spaces worldwide are constructed like all-purpose sterile sites, and this is a good practice, bus the Hermitage is an unique place because it was built to display works of art, and, at the same time, as the residence for the emperor, his family and court nobility. It’s a great pleasure to see the museum rooms lit by sunlight. I believe this is the best possible lighting for paintings and sculptures. Eventually these photos shall be exhibited, published online or printed.

 

And what about the black-and-white palette? Does it contribute to expression?

Initially, the photography was color-blind. Should Niépce or Daguerre invent chromophotography from the very beginning, you can believe that we could never have any black-and-white photos. However, the first photos were monochromatic, as well as the culture of perception. After that, color palette was introduced thanks to Prokudin-Grosky and other talented inventors and became dominant because color reproduction is something conventional for a human being.  Today there are two cultures of photographing: polychromatic and monochromatic. Each of them has the right to exist and should exist. I believe that statements like “I’m a black-and-white photographer” or “I only make color photographs” are pointless. There is no need for such restrictions. I can only realize whether this or that image shall be black-and-white when or before I make the photo. Being a man with perfect visual perception, when I see a scene I can tell whether it should be rendered as a black-and-white image, or whether an allegedly color-blind scene is polychromatic in its essence. Or I can see numerous color images and understand that color palette is ineffective: it is present, but brings no expression.  If you make a black-and-white photo, you are judged on the merits of black-and-white epoch. After that either your talent is proved to be true, or your images draw no interest. Today this is even not a matter of criticism. You are not noticed, and that’s enough: you invite people, but there are no visitors. You post your photos online, and they only receive likes from you mom, grandmom and girlfriend, any this does not last for long. On the other hand, there can be photos that break through any spaces and borders: they are liked and re-posted by many onlookers, and the photographer expands his audience. This is not because he only makes black-and-white photos. Rather, his images give esthetic pleasure thanks to proper use of photographic tools. There are not many, just two: camera and light.

In the past a published book confirmed that you managed to pass a kind of formal evaluation. If it was a book of poems, this at least confirmed that you are not a pulp-writer. This was implied in the minds of “normal” Soviet-era people. However, today any assertions are nothing more than words. The audience should read at least four lines or see at least one photo to draw any conclusions. All of us are promising talents, without regard to age. You can have a promising future as long as you live, there are no barriers. However, only actual achievements can be recognized.

 

What about the tradeoff between digital and film cameras? The same story as with the color?

This is nothing more than a set of tools. When I have an idea, I think about how to make photos. Frankly speaking, some of the ideas living and rolling inside my mind for years are truly amazing: if I tell about them, this would take your breath away. And, if I add that these ideas occurred to me 15 years ago and I’m still thinking them over, you would tell: “Guy, you’re a fool. You should’ve done this at once before someone else would do it”. But I’m still contemplating not because I’m a fool. Rather, I try to bring this idea to its final shape because I feel that so far it lacks something. Maybe this is an ephemeral, but still quite important element. Also you needed to handle your tools with absolute craftsmanship and ease. If you cannot play the violin, even a Stradivari violin could not help. You’d ruin the performance, and the audience would leave. Only your mother would stay and applause telling something like: “Sonny, these people are foolish and unkind”.

When young photographers endlessly repeat: “I only use films, no digital technologies”, this is amusing. They imply to be masters of genius, but this in not true. There is no use to carry a Leica. This does not prove that you make amazing photos. This only demonstrates that you have a Leica and you are a wealthy man. Before the introduction of digital photography, there were only film cameras, and a full range of photographic skills. There were virtuosos, mediocre or even foolish people who had nothing to do with the art of photography. Thus, all assertions of this kind are not true.

 

You are teaching. Are there many gifted guys now?

Young talents exist without regard to time or place. It is hard for me to say “No”. That’s why I agreed to teach in the Technology and Design University where I hold classes for many years. Also there are short-term training sessions in the University of Culture, ArtFuture design school, the Photo Faculty, the PhotoGraphica Academy. I have little time, catastrophically little, but I can tell all I know about photography within a couple of hours. I have a dream to write a book, “25 Lessons of Photography”, with a conceptual profile of aggregate visual experience of the mankind and its cultural background followed by a crisp and brief viewpoint of the photographer. Speaking figuratively, these are 25 manifestoes about the art of photography. Teaching is a kind of duty to share my experience with my mother country and humankind in general. Moreover, this way I can put together fragmented knowledge and build a full-scope panorama of the universe. In the art of photography it is important not to be an apprentice of a single master. You shall visit exhibitions and workshops, museums and theaters, attend lectures, watch movies, read books and drink good wine. You need to find your own style and pattern, and this is what I’m repeatedly speaking about at my master-classes. It is very important to find your own photographic theme where you would be the ground breaker and the very first story-teller. Indeed, these deep and unique themes and people are just a short distance away. This is your family. No one ever embodied or could embody a true photographic story of your family. But you can do it because you know all characters of this story, they love you and trust you. No one would ever write a photographic story of your neighborhood or neighbors. Just look around. Everything is at your fingertips.

 

Classes are about skills and techniques. Is it possible to teach lessons of vision?

Vision cannot be learned in one stroke or within a year. This is a matter of continuous self-education. Visual culture is acquired through watching good movies, visiting museums, viewing and reading unique books and albums. In other words, visual art shall be consumed and absorbed every day. And, possibly, many years on you would achieve a different level, and your images would be vivid and natural like breathing. And it would be quite easy to frame perfect compositions. The culture of photography is all about skilful framing, seeing beauty and harmony in the chaotic space, no matter how pathetic this might seem. Intrinsically, photos are purported to display real life. They should be sincere but, if you see pains and efforts of the photographer rather than the photographic image, it’s awful. Photos shall in no way look artificial, articulated or fictional. So sad to see that such silly, banal and awkward images are endlessly replicated.

 

Who can set an example of deep vision and good taste?

There are so many names! Just flip through the albums with photos by Sebastiao Salgado, Cartier Bresson, Josef Koudelka, Sergey Maksimishin (his book is being published and shall appear soon).

Admire and enjoy the black-and-white images of Saint-Petersburg captured Boris Smelov. Nowadays, photography need not obey any art institutions, because almost everyone takes photos and everyone has a chance to make a masterpiece. As we can see on the web, new amazing photo images appear day after day. You can visit a library or browse Internet, find good resources and view many perfect images. Also, there are good exhibitions where beautiful photographs can be seen in real life. Photos by Steve McCurry are exhibited in the Hermitage now. He receives different feedback. Someone praises his art, others suppose that he is a genius of a single photo: the portrait of a beautiful Afghan girl. Without any doubt, he is a great photographer, and it's a great pleasure to visit this exhibition.

 

Would you like to see more photographic exhibitions in the Hermitage?

Sure, and this type of exhibition activity is gaining momentum. I was delighted to learn that photos by Sebastiao Salgado shall be exhibited next year. I feel happy that, thanks to the efforts of Nikolay Gordeev and myself, 20 photos by Boris Smelov were donated to the Hermitage last year. These are his best images published during his lifetime. I think it’s a great achievement that they shall be kept in this museum. Indeed, the Hermitage as the major national museum shall exhibit the masterpieces and the precious history of photographic art, but the current state of affairs shall be displayed as well. Fresh look is very important for photographing. Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe and Dennis Hopper acted as prominent promoters of this art: each of them made a breakthrough, and the same kind of breakthrough photographers are needed now. Also I feel like there are not enough exhibitions to link the same themes depicted in the past, by old masters, and today.

 

Why, say, the Russian Museum would not follow the pattern of your collaboration with the Hermitage?

I do not think that this experience shall be copied. The Russian Museum holds photo biennials. As far as I remember, there were three such events. It’s a very important field of activity. They invented their own system to gather exhibits: they collect lots of photos through mass mailing, then select the best, display them and publish catalogues.

Random mails sent to many different locations can bring gorgeous results. Indeed, there are no decrees of the Ministry for Culture to prohibit talents or geniuses from being born in any particular place. By way of example, there is an unique photographer Elena Eleeva in Samara. Her photos are fantastic. They are a part of my collection. And I believe that such brilliant pieces can be found everywhere. But we do not know this for sure because we simply cannot watch the whole photographic landscape, even in St. Petersburg.

 

What other admiring masters can you name?

For instance, Aleksandr Chernogrivov. His photos make a part of my collection as well. Hopefully, they shall be displayed in my personal art space named “The place where I lived and worked” which was just opened. Then there is Igor Bryakelev who uses pinhole camera. There are Piotr Lebedev and Masha Snegirevskaya who follow the traditions of Boris Smelov. Interesting photos are published in Instagram by Nikita Murzin and Nastia Kopteva. Right now, together with Ksenia Diodorova and “The Point of Bearing” Charity Foundation, we are finishing the #вдох_вдох (#breath_breath) project about athletes with disabilities.  There are lots of talented people and much work to be done by these talents.

Interview by Darya Evseeva

 

 

 

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