NOSTALGIA: The color photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii

Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (born in 1863 in Murom) was a pioneer of photography in Russia and a pioneer of color photography. Very little has been written about his life history. Like so many of the artists and architects of pre-revolutionary Russia, he has been forgotten, leaving a blank space in the history of photography that remains to this day.

Prokudin-Gorskii was given the task of capturing the old Russia in images, on behalf of the czar Nicolas II in 1909. This made him a witness to change. With his color photographs, he created extensive documentation, a remembrance of a space and a time that were about to vanish forever.

The period during which Prokudin-Gorskii worked - the late nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth century - was a period of social, political, and technological upheavals. Some of these changes were slow to establish themselves, and their future consequences could therefore barely be guesses at; others, however, could not be ignored. The old Russia of Tolstoi and Chekhov was gradually passing away.

Nostalgia is currently on exhibit at Gestalten, Berlin.

NOSTALGIA
The Russian Empire of Czar Nicholas II

S.M. Prokudin-Gorskii

Peasant girls, 1909

Emir of Bukhara, 1911

At harvest time, 1909

Pinkhus Karlinskii, 1909

Group of workers harvesting tea, year between 1905-1915

Settler's family in the Settlement of Grafovka in Mugan Steppe, year bet. 1905-1915

Dinner during haying, year 1909

At the Saliuktin mines on the outskirts of Samarkand, year bet. 1905-1915

Courtesy of Gestalten, Berlin

Nostalgia; The color photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii

October 19 - November 25, 2012

The Whimsical World of Tim Walker

I am thrilled to write a post on Tim Walker's major new exhibition Story Teller, one of the most visually exciting and influential fashion photographers working today.

With an imagination that knows no bounds, Tim Walker turns fashion shoots into fairytales or, in his own words, 'daydreams into photographs'. He constructs flamboyant worlds that unfold, page after page, like a series of stills from unrealized films. The photo shoot begins to resemble the film set: hair and make-up artists, fashion stylists and costume fitters, model makers, set designers, builders, producers and painters, prop suppliers and a cast of models playing out imagined roles. At the centre is Walker harnessing creative and technical talents to conjure up the harmonious whole in a singular picture.

 Tim Walker: Story Teller is on view at Somerset House, London. To coincide with this highly anticipated exhibition, Thames & Hudson will publish Story Teller. The book features over 175 inspirational images, collages and snapshots from Walker's personal archives, many on display in this exciting exhibition.

"Sometimes when you're taking a picture an extraordinary sense of luck and chance takes over and propels you to make pictures that you could't in your wildest dreams have imagined. This is the magic of photography". Tim Walker, Story Teller.Pg 112

Tim Walker

Story Teller

Giant doll kicks Lindsey Wixson, Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, 2011
© Tim Walker

Karlie Kloss and broken Humpty Dumpty, Rye, East Sussex, 2010
© Tim Walker

Tilda Swinton and aviator goggles, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2011
© Tim Walker

Xiao Wen & Lui Wen as samurai nuns, New York, 2011
© Tim Walker

Rollo Hesketh-Harvey & his baguette biplane, Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, 2009
© Tim Walker

Lily Donaldson and Blue Spitfire, Glemham Hall, Suffolk, 2009
© Tim Walker

Kinga Rajzak in flying saucer with members of the West Percy Hunt
Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, 2009
© Tim Walker

Courtesy of the artist and Somerset House, London

Tim Walker: Story Teller

Somerset House, London

October 17th, 2012 - January 27th, 2013

AHN SUN MI: "Möbius Strip"

Her self-portraits are stunning, poetic and dreamlike at the same time. The young Korean artist Ahn Sun Mi sets herself in a nostalgic world, between childhood and sensuality. Her photographic work, both dreams and reality, reveals her fears. Humane nor pessimism, Sun Mi reflects our fragile time, causing aesthetic and voluptuous sensations.

Sun Mi's surreal self-portraits tell a story, with smooth color shades or, the opposite, clashing bright colors. These contrasts are her uniqueness and originality, between colored Manga and softness, zen, meditative.

Ahn Sun Mi was born in 1982 in Busan, South Korea. She lives and works in Paris and Busan.

Möbius Strip is currently on exhibit at Visionairs Gallery, Paris

Ahn SunMi

Möbius Strip

 Copyright © Ahn Sun Mi

 © Ahn Sun Mi

 © Ahn Sun Mi

 © Ahn Sun Mi

© Ahn Sun Mi

A look at Ahn Sun Mi's early photographic work

Je suis Alice, 2007

 © Ahn Sun Mi

Choloncholo, 2007

 © Ahn Sun Mi

Bonbon, 2009

© Ahn Sun Mi

Courtesy of the artist and Visionairs Gallery, Paris

Ahn Sun Mi: Möbius Strip

October 8th - October 27th, 2012

The Legendary Ballet Master; Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance

" You live as long as you dance," was Rudolf Nureyev's mantra throughout his meteoric rise as an internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, ballet master, and company director. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Nureyev's death, and the remarkable art and career of this legendary performer, the de Young Museum will present more than 70 costumes from ballets danced by the master - Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Manfred among them - as well as a selection of photographs, videos, and ephemera that chronicles his illustrious life.

Reflecting Nureyev's lifelong obsession with the details of fabric, decoration, and stylistic line, the costumes in this exhibition represent every period of his long career. As a meticulous performer, the Russian ballet master demanded costumes that were not only beautiful, but precisely engineered to suit the physical demands of his dance. He also loved sumptuous decoration, and these costumes reflect his highly-refined aesthetic; fantasias of embroidery, jewels, and braid.

Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance offers an intimate view of the man behind the grand gestures, a man, as Mikhail Baryshnikov said, who "... had the charisma and simplicity of a man of the earth, and the inaccessible arrogance of the gods."
Organized in collaboration with the Centre national du costume de scène in Moulins, France and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the de Young is the exhibition's exclusive US venue.

Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance

Rudolf Nureyev and Noëlla Pontois in La Bayadère, Palais Garnier, 1974. Photograph by André Chino. Courtesy CNCS.

Costume for the Lilac Fairy Queen in Sleeping Beauty, Teatro alla Scalla, Milan, 1966. Collection CNSC/Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS.

Costume for the Lilac Fairy Queen in Sleeping Beauty, Teatro alla Scalla, Milan, 1966. Collection CNSC/Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS.

Costume by Nicholas Giorgiadis for Rudolf Nureyev in the role of Prince Siegfried, Act I, in Swan Lake, Vienna State Opera Ballet, 1964. Silver lace and blue silk doublet, trimmed with blue rhinestones, faux pearls, pleated linen collar and cuffs, and blue soutache. Collection CNCS/Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS

Costume by Nicholas Giorgiadis for Rudolf Nureyev in the role of Prince Siegfried, Act I, in Swan Lake, Vienna State Opera Ballet, 1964. Silver lace and blue silk doublet, trimmed with blue rhinestones, faux pearls, pleated linen collar and cuffs, and blue soutache. Collection CNCS/Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS

Rudolf Nureyev in La Bayadère, Palais Garnier, 1974. Photograph by André Chino. Courtesy CNCS.

Costume by Nicholas Giorgiadis, doublet for Rudolf Nureyev in the role of Prince Florimond, Act III, in Sleeping Beauty, Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1966. Sleeveless gray and silver waistcoat trimmed with gold lace, yellow braid, and gold filigree buttons; white false shirt with pleated sleeves and lace cuffs. Collection CNCS/Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS

Costume by Nicholas Georgiadis for Rudolf Nureyev in the role of Jean de Brienne in Raymonda, Opéra national de Paris, 1983. Beige silk and gold lamé doublet with velvet braid; cream silk shirt with elastic belt. Collection CNCS/Opéra national de Paris. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS

Costume for Rudolf Nureyev in the role of Romeo, Act II, Romeo and Juliet, Opéra national de Paris. 1984. Velvet, silk, silver lamé, metallic lace, and sequins. Collection of CNCS/Opéra national de Paris. Photograph by Pascal François/CNCS

Courtesy of the de Young Museum, San Francisco

Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance

October 6, 2012- February 17, 2013

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