Gueorgui Pinkhassov

November 15, 2021

Gueorgui Pinkhassov  

By: Connor Albaugh 

            The previous unit of portraits and self portraits was full of countless meaning, vivid color, and the use of expert lighting. The photographers and the different styles each of them possess made for a visually and conceptually entertaining unit. Specifically, my project articulated the work of Philip-Lorca DiCorcio. He was an interesting photographer to analyze and research because of his experience with photography and the amount of detail each of his images displayed. With this being said, we are now transitioning into a unit surrounded photos which come together to create an essay. Many of these have discrete objectives while others seem to be organized in a random fashion. However, this blog will be used to highlight a magnum photographer from the magnum photographer website. Out of all the highly talented and decorated photographers on that site, the photographer that caught my eye in a variety of ways happened to be Gueorgui Pinkhassov. One of his quotes entails this: "The only thing that counts is curiosity. For me personally, this is what creativity is about" (Article #1). Not only this an important part of photography and what it is all about, but it gives a little information about Gueorgui and his style. But, that can be seen later in this blog. Importantly enough, one of the things that happens to be intriguing about Gueorgui are his origins. Gueorgui was born in 1952 in Moscow, which is one of the largest cities in Russia (Article #1). His inclination towards photography happened to start while he was still enrolled in school (Article #1). However, this is not what he ended up studying. At the school named "VGIK (The Moscow Institute of Cinematography)," his major and sole passion was cinematography (Article #1). Once he had finished schooling, Gueorgui figured it would be in his best interest to put his strengths to the test. He did this starting as a cameraman and then became an on-set photographer at "Mosfilm studio" (Article #1). Building on this opportunity, he took his talents to "the Moscow Union of Graphic Artists in 1978" (Article #1). This union gave him a lot of leeway to "travel and exhibit his photography internationally" to many of the people who he happened to come into contact with (Article #1). Gueorgui was doing really well and excelling to the point where his life would take a drastic turn. The "prominent Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky" had seen his work and had invited Gueorgui "to make a reportage about his film Stalker" which happened to be published in 1979 (Article #1). From then on, Gueorgui's life and his fame within the photographer industry took off and he would later "join Magnum Photos in 1988" (Article #1). It is crazy how he started out with an interest cinematography and his role changed which now happens to be his career today. With opportunities and connections, you never know where you'll in the blink of time. 

            Gueorgui's story and the path he took to get to where he is now is important because it leads us right into his style of photography. But, before I dive in, it is important to highlight some of his photographic memories. One of the things that he has had the ability to capture and photograph comes from "iconic cultural events such as those from the Cannes Film Festival to the backstage at Paris Fashion Week" (Article #1). The Cannes Film Festival shows top tier films which are handy in advancing and developing the industry of cinema while the Paris Fashion Week happens to be a designer fashion show directed at advertising certain brands and clothing through the use of women models. Both of these expeditions were two very significant events because it allowed for Gueorgui to better his craft and travel across the world to have the chance at producing incredible work through his photography. He has also has had the pleasure of photographing globally through documentary motivated shoots (Article #1). With this being said, Gueorgui and many other photographers in the world all have a unique style which they use and portray in all of their work. For Gueorgui, this is "his vivid art-reportage, which happens to elevate the everyday to the extraordinary" (Article #1). When you view his images, they display strong and comprehensive color as well as embody a sense of "complexity and poetic resolution" so much so "on an abstraction which embraces the visual composite of contemporary life" (Article #1). As we speak on his style, it is key to examine the photograph above. Putting everything in his style together will help to analysis his to the fullest extent. The following photo above comes from Gueorgui's very first photo book called Sightwalk. This image happens to be one of multiple "lyrical images of his wandering through the streets of Tokyo" (Article #2). Specifically, this photo was taken at a "Akasaka area in Tokyo, Japan in 1996" (Article #2). The main purpose of this image happens to capture a moment in the everyday life of Tokyo which is seen to be "frozen". The beauty surrounding this image is solely reliant on the color and the way it was taken. All of the other images in this series are taken in the same respect as they often resemble things like "a car park in a shopping mall, a coffeeshop, etc." (Article #2). Having an idea of this type of photo, it helps us to be able to develop an understanding pertaining to Gueorgui's sole purpose for taking the image. First off, the color that is seen in this image is very prominent. The color of the floor, walls, men's suits, and the beams that support the building all have different color shades. These colors are emphasized and are made more prominent to the human eye because of the light that happens to seep through the windows on the specific floor. There seems to be two different windows which show different patterns of light. One happens to have a square shape and the other has a hexagon shape. Light that is seeping through the rectangular shaped pieces in the one window help to illuminate the hotel hallway and the colors that reside in each of the following objects. This sections of light can be seen to light up the grey floor color underneath the man in the hallway as well as the other section of flooring, the beams, and the other three men in the hallway. The light, probably strong due to the position of the sun, makes for a beautiful image because without it, the image would be incredibly dark and it would be hard to distinguish the color in the surrounding environment. Gueorgui also does an excellent job framing this image. Everyone in this image that he happens to photograph is doing something different. Two men are proceeding down an external hallway, one man looks into the camera, and the other man stands in the hallway who happens to be highlighted by the light seeping through the window. The shadows seen in this image are where light is unable to get through and the pattern scene on the hotel floor is quite intricate. The article where is photograph comes from reminds us of the eye Gueorgui has for certain details and it is incredibly apparent in the following image. The last thing that I would like to touch on his Gueorgui's point of focus in this image. The foreground in this case happens to be blurry, while the background of the image is clear and easy to see. Whether we know it or not, there is a certain emphasis and pertinent reasoning for this. Gueorgui probably wants the viewer to focus on the background rather than the foreground because there is a lot going on compositionally in this portion of the photo with the lighting, color, and framing. Additionally, I think Gueorgui intentionally framed the image this way because of the leading lines which lead up to the focused subject in the background. While they lead up to this man who seems to be standing still, he also is able to capture the "moving" life in the image while the viewer can admire the stillness of the intended subject. The reasoning for this happens to be because there is life and other things going on when we are doing something. I think Guerogui wants us to appreciate the man in his position and that sometimes although we may not be moving or not have an intended goal in mind, things go on in life whether we see them or not. As simple as it may seem,  Gueorgui had a certain idea in mind and executed it masterfully in this photo as well as in his Tokyo series. In terms of m opinion, I really like the rack focus used here. Blurring out the foreground and allowing the background to be in focus develops a particular mood and emphasis on a specific object, being a single person in a suit. Additionally, I really appreciated the lighting that happens to how up in this image because it enhances the colors in different areas of this hotel hallway as well as the people who fill the certain spaces they happen to be in when the photo is taken. Lastly, the framing of this image helps for the viewer to see the image for what it is compositionally while also eliminating distracting elements so there is no reason for the viewer's eyes to wander. 

            Gueorgui Pinkhassov was truly an interesting photographer to research, analyze, and make sense of. His photographic work is truly remarkable and has an incredible background for how he found and came to love photography in the first place. Gueorgui's opportunities to showcase his work and take advantage of the events and different locations shows how eager and how much he enjoys this field. Individually, Gueorgui really has an aptitude for seeing things like "the overlooked and neglected, where he brings outstanding compositions to life with a distinctive visual language" (Article #2). Additionally, his ability to capture great lighting, strong colors, specific focus, and different reflection and shadows bring this particular photo discussed above together and is a sample of how good his work his when he applies his multifaceted talents. The fact that his first photo series was so good and showed no flaws or insecurities means that he took a lot of time to make these images appealing to the eye and this alone is truly inspiring for a beginner photographer like me. One of the things a photographer should do well is key in on specific things that they want to articulate and show to the eyes of their viewer. In this case, Gueorgui has specific aspects, pertaining to his style, which he brings out in many instances for each of his photos for maximum optimization. I chose this photographer to write a blog on because of how relatable he is to me. In my camera work, no matter the assignment, I strive to bring out as much color as I can in each image. Color is so important to defining an image, having color or simply being black and white, because it can tell a certain story and articulate a different mood. With this color, I try to make sure it is specific to the topic at hand so that what I am photographing and the world around me match up in essence. Additionally, another thing that I can relate to in terms of Gueorgui's style is his ability to focus certain things in his images. In the image above, he blurs out the foreground and makes the background clear. For my work, I like to use rack focus and place a heavy emphasis on a shallow depth of field. This helps the viewer to see what I am photographing without being distracted by unnecessary elements in my photos. The rack focus also helps to bring out the detail of what I am photographing in an overwhelming manner so there is no question of what the focus of my image is on. Lastly, the part of Gueorgui's work that has a similar effect on my work is what he photographs. In this series, he happens to capture life in a hotel which is frozen by taking a picture. With many of my photos, I have some sort of relationship with what I am photographing and where things are being photographed at. Not only is this important to develop some sort of meaning and pattern, but it also helps the viewer appreciate certain things I like to photograph and the individual beauty each of these things can resemble and symbolize. With this all in mind, I appreciate Gueorgui Pinkhassov's work and strive to implement some of his strengths in my work to enhance the detail of my images in the future. 

Sources:

Article #1: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/gueorgui-pinkhassov/

Article #2: https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/architecture/gueorgui-pinkhassov-sightwalk/