A large-scale exhibition featuring 150 works by 26 artists from 8 cities tells the story of a historical period when photography experienced an extraordinary rise, comparable to the flourishing of the avant-garde in Soviet art of the 1920s–1930s.

The exhibition recalls a time when young artists, at their creative explorations, crossed boundaries, working at the intersection of photography, fine art, and other forms of creativity. During this era, art photography truly became the center of attraction — it was discussed, reflected upon, written about, and passionately debated.



The project introduces viewers to a number of key figures in Russian and Belarusian photography who defined both its rapid rise and its success on the All-Union and international exhibition stages. Among them are Sergey Chilikov, one of the founders of the Cheboksary group Fakt; Alexander Slusarev, leader of the Moscow group Direct Photography; and Evgeny Yufit, one of the founders of necrorealism within Russia’s parallel cinema movement.

Чежин А.С.
Чежин А.С.
Без названия. Из серии "96 портретов"
1990 г.
РОСФОТО КП 550/006
Виленский Д.Э. (род. 1964 г.)
Виленский Д.Э. (род. 1964 г.)
Из серии «Красный город»
1992 г.
РОСФОТО КП 120/040
Чиликов С.Г.
Чиликов С.Г.
Из серии «Пайгусово», цикл «Колоризмы»
1995 г. печать 2004 г.
РОСФОТО КП 913/001
Ниязов Е.
Ниязов Е.
Портрет группы "Кино"
1985
РОСФОТО КП 976/008


Igor Savchenko, a Minsk-based photographer and one of the most renowned representatives of “the anonymous photography” movement; Andrey Abramov, a Moscow photographer associated with the fine art photography trend; Yedyge Niyazov, a Pavlodar-based photographer and a master of staged psychological portraiture, who created a gallery of images portraying figures of St. Petersburg’s counter-culture scene.


The retrospective approach proposed by the exhibition’s curators allows to explore the creative atmosphere of the 1980s–1990s and to discover unique photographs created using a variety of individual artistic techniques.

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