"Only the artist is the main cleaner of art text."
(Large jpg - 42K)
A collection of striking contemporary photographs by leading St Petersburg photographers is on display at 10 Pushkinskaya Ulitsa.
Photoimage -- a permanent exhibition which opened late last month -- represents some of the most prominent photographers in St Petersburg today.
One of the exhibits, "Only the artist is the main cleaner of art text", is an interesting example of conceptual photography, a collaboration between Dimitry Pilikin and Dimitry Vilensky. It is an ironic photograph from a series depicting one of the photographers dressed as a yard cleaner.
Another untitled photograph by Lyudmila Fyodorenko uses archive photos and broken glass to dramatic effect.
Untitled work by Lyudmila Fyodorenko. (Large jpg - 40K)
This exhibition was organized by a fluid organization called Photopostscriptum. Operating without a particular venue, Photopostscriptum is a movement made up of young St Petersburg photographers dedicated to fine-tuning the language of contemporary photography.
The organisation had one big exhibition at the Marble Palace in 1993. During the subsequent two years Photopostscriptum organized several ephemeral art projects and exhibitions at both 10 Pushkinskaya Ulitsa and the Russian Museum before coming to roost at their present venue at Photoimage.
Dimitry Vilensky, Photopostscriptum's director, claims this is the first permanent collection of purely photographic works in St Peterburg. For all appearances Photoimage is a gallery, but it actually works more like a museum. These black and white photographs are not for sale although Photoimage will point potential customers wanting to buy works in the direction of the artists themselves.
Most photos are donated and anyone can submit a photograph but should expect that their work will be closely scrutinised by a panel of experts before being added to the Photoimage collection.
There are two bench marks which govern which works Photoimage selects from the wide range of photos it receives. Firstly they are interested in works that accurately represent contemporary trends in photographic art. Secondly, they are interested in historical archive material -- especially photographs from the 30s to the 50s -- and photographs capturing historical scenes in St Petersburg.