Photographer Boris Mikhailov (born 1938) dedicates his new volume Diary to the “Blaue Horse” group, a group of young people, many from his Ukrainian hometown of Kharkov, who were persecuted and jailed by Soviet authorities at the end of the 1950s for “pornography,” a catchall accusation that could accommodate crimes like loving the Beatles and dancing to rock and roll. Mikhailov introduces this collection of his Soviet-era photographs by explaining that he took up photography in the shadow of that moment of repression, aware that almost all of his subjects and images would run foul of the party line. In this new artist’s book, Mikhailov’s photographs—showing daily life in the Soviet Union, in color and black and white, in the unblinking style for which the artist is known—are presented without further comment, arranged in an intimate scrapbook style.
Featured image is a page from Boris Mikhailov: Diary.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
StyleZeitgeist
Eugene Rabkin
Mikhailov’s photos were unflinching in their honesty. In a way they represent the finality of art, [a] reflection of the world so disfigured that any ability to aestheticize it looks fake. That’s what sets Mikhailov apart from artists whose photos of human misery negate themselves through stylization.
In his new, heavily annotated, scrapbook-like, 430-page, 900-image artist book from Walther König, Diary, noted Soviet photographer Boris Mikhailov cites the liberal, west-looking 'Blaue Horse' student group as inspiration. "They came under great pressure from the government… four of them were convicted and went to jail… for pornography (convicting someone for madness or pornography was one of the ways used to crack down on any opposition). As one of the main proofs, the court was presented with photographs of these young people on the beach, in swimwear, striking "Western" poses. … I started with my photography about five years later; it was the time when it was forbidden to shoot many—or almost all—thing, but no one was killed for it already…" continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 11 x 7.5 in. / 430 pgs / 900 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $125.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $170 ISBN: 9783863358167 PUBLISHER: Walther König, Köln AVAILABLE: 1/26/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: FLAT40 PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR
Published by Walther König, Köln. Text by Boris Mikhailov.
Photographer Boris Mikhailov (born 1938) dedicates his new volume Diary to the “Blaue Horse” group, a group of young people, many from his Ukrainian hometown of Kharkov, who were persecuted and jailed by Soviet authorities at the end of the 1950s for “pornography,” a catchall accusation that could accommodate crimes like loving the Beatles and dancing to rock and roll. Mikhailov introduces this collection of his Soviet-era photographs by explaining that he took up photography in the shadow of that moment of repression, aware that almost all of his subjects and images would run foul of the party line. In this new artist’s book, Mikhailov’s photographs—showing daily life in the Soviet Union, in color and black and white, in the unblinking style for which the artist is known—are presented without further comment, arranged in an intimate scrapbook style.
