Title Nation (Russian and English Edition) - Hardcover

Eskenazi, Jason; Nistratov, Valeri

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9053307397 ISBN 13: 9789053307397

Publisher: Schilt Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

Documentary photographers Jason Eskenazi (American) and Valeri Nistratov (Russian) 'took to the road' in Russia to shoot 4x5 color portraits in various cities and across different levels of Russian society. It was their first time shooting large format so they created a method to shoot each portrait under the same conditions: (lighting, distance, pose). Only the locations changed: factory, street, train station, hospital, prison, post-office, sanatorium, etc. They traveled to more than 10 cities & towns, including: Novosibirsk, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Krasnoyarsk and Moscow. A white sheet was used in the background for continuity purposes. During the session they documented the subject's name, profession, date of birth, and where the photo was taken.

Usually only one portrait was taken for each subject and the process took less than one minute. The two short films included by Abigail Spindle show the photographers at the beginning of the project and near its end. Audio interviews were also recorded where and when possible to let the subjects speak for themselves. No attempt was made to represent all ethnic nationalities, in this series -- especially from the former Soviet Union, living on Russian territory -- but instead they concentrated on more or less pure Russians who make up the majority of the population and are thus referred to scientifically as the Title Nation.

The project is about the 15th anniversary of the fall of communism, a look at how the country and people have changed.

Project is about people but also about collaboration between two artists.

 

About this title

About the Author:

Jason Eskenazi was born in New York and still lives there. He first travelled to Russia in 1991 before the coup that led to the fall of the Soviet Union.

 

  Valery Nistratov was born in 1973 in Moscow, Russia. He has been interested in photography since childhood. In 1990, he became a professional photographer when he took up a job as a press photographer for a local newspaper, Za Kommunizm. Nistratov left the newspaper in 1991 and began to chronicle the dramatic events of the dissolution of the USSR for foreign media. He covered virtually every war that broke out on the former USSR territory and outside it.

In late 1993, Nistratov redefined his approach to photography, rejecting news photography in favor of socio-documental photography. He considers everyday social life in society as the principal subject of his photographs, as well as the interaction between man and the environment. In the course of his work on his personal projects Nistratov travelled widely in Russia, the former USSR republics, China and Afghanistan.

Mr. Nistratov's work has been presented at exhibitions in Russia, France, the U.S., the Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, South Africa, Japan and China. His photographs were pubished in Time, The New York Times, Dia Siete, NZZ, WOZ, Le Monde Diplamatic and OjoDePez.

In 2004, Nistratov, together with Swiss journalist Judith Huber, published the book Risse in Patriarchat--Frauen in Afghanistan depicting the condition of women in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. He is also the author of Lesostep (literally, 'forest-steppe'), published in 2008.

About this edition

• Publisher: Schilt Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 9053307397
• ISBN 13: 9789053307397
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 216