The Faculty of Photography of the Institute for the Humanities and Information Technologies (IGUMO) hosted a lecture by a famous artist and photographer named Mikhail Rozanov. He cooperates with Ruarts Gallery. The author’s works are presented at the largest Russian museums and included in private collections. Mikhail Rozanova has been exhibiting his works in Russia and abroad since 1995. 

The author spoke about the peculiarities of the visual reading of modernist architecture using his works created in 2019-2020 in London, Paris, Helsinki, Madrid, and other European cities as examples.

Mikhail Rozanov’s photographs are black and white, minimalistic, and calm. His works include no random shots. The photographer chooses the location for the photo session in advance and conducts a study of the architectural object. 

When travelling in Europe, Mr. Rozanov photographed post-war buildings. One of the goals of his series is to emphasize the international character of modernist buildings in different countries.

 

Mikhail Rozanov considers brutalism with its large geometric forms, rough texture of concrete, and massive structures to be his favourite trend in modernist architecture. 

When demonstrating his works to the students of the Faculty of Photography, the author spoke about the key modernist structures of the world. Those include the Torre Velasca (Milan), the Finlandia Hall (Helsinki), the New Building of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), Gorki Leninskie (Moscow), the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Unité d'Habitation (Berlin), the Barbican (London), and many others.

In his series of photos, the author paid special attention to religious buildings erected in the modernist tradition. They are characterised by geometric, ascetic, and pure forms. One can easily find churches made of concrete in Europe. However, they are not typical for the Russian reality. 

Commenting on the principles of photography, Mikhail Rozanov said: he usually shoots general and medium plan, showing the uniqueness of the building. Then he zooms in the objects to show his original view through the details.

At the end of the lecture, students of the Faculty of Photography involved in the ‘Soviet Modernism. From: and To:’ project asked their questions. In particular, they were interested in photo processing, legal nuances, and varieties of architectural photography. 

Mikhail Rozanov announced that, in spring 2021, an exhibition of a series of photographs of modernist architecture will be opened with the support of the Ruarts Gallery. The material will be presented in Russia for the first time at the Museum of Architecture. 

Kristina Danilina, Agency for Relevant Communication students’ business incubator

Translated by Nikolay Gavrilov

03.12.2020
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