Close and Far : Russian Photography Now

18 Jun-17 Aug 2014

Overview

A new generation of photographers and video artists explore identity and place in early 21st century Russia alongside the rediscovered works of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, whose colour images of pre-revolutionary Russia are exhibited for the first time in the UK. When Nicholas II, the last tsar, personally commissioned Prokudin-Gorsky, an early pioneer of colour photography, to document his vast empire he presided over the largest territory in the world. Today, Russia is still a land of dramatic extremes and diversity. Where Prokudin-Gorsky witnessed first-hand the effects of galloping colonisation and the early stirrings of industrialisation, today’s artists work in the aftermath of the empire’s collapse, grappling both with its past and future. Curated by Kate Bush, Close and Far showcases the work of Alexander Gronsky, Dmitry Venkov, Taus Makhacheva, Olya Ivanova and Max Sher.