Alexey Titarenko

Titarenko received his M.F.A. from the Department of Cinematic and Photographic Art at Leningrad's Institute of Culture in 1983. Since his work had no connection to Soviet propaganda, he wasn't able to publicly declare himself an artist until 1989 with his exhibition "Nomenclature of Signs". He was also the creator of Ligovka 99, a photographer's exhibition space that was independent of the Communist ideology. His photographic series from the 1990s have won him worldwide recognition.

"By shooting slow shutter speeds and multiple exposures he essentially stops time and reveals a mysterious, ethereal world that resides between the shadows" (Burnstine, Susan; Black and White Photography; p 20). Titarenko's images of crowds of people initially drew me to the work. His images with slow shutter speeds are absolutely beautiful. The way the subjects leave trails as they move while having their hands remain in focus is just incredible. Recently I have been doing some experimentation with slow shutter speeds. I set up my camera and then just turn the shutter on and let nature do the rest.

"[I]n the purest tradition of documentary photography, Titarenko plucks fragments from daily life with no staging whatsoever. But the use of long exposures and the subtlety of his black-and-white cameos endow the reality he confronts with a metaphysical dimension, timeless and introspective" (Bouruet-Aubertot, Veronique; Beaux Arts Magazine). I'm also interested in the idea of not staging anything. I am coming into this project from a documentary perspective. I want to capture nature or urban environments in all their glory and show their beauty. I want to show the things that we often ignore when we are walking to work in the morning or going to school.

 http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/press/titarenko_shots.pdf

 http://www.philamuseum.org/

http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/index.html