Valeri Nistratov

The Local Identity of Contemporary Eurasia

Photographs by Valeri Nistratov

October 2 – December 29, 2014

Thursday, October 2 


Exhibit Opening 6–8pm


Artist Talk 6pm


Reception 6:30–8pm

Valeri Nistratov: In Search of Miracles

Valeri Nistratov is a master at capturing the surreal or the incongruous in the world around him, be it Russians reenacting pagan rituals or Afghans encountering radical change in a post-Taliban world. He has a wonderful, often dark, sense of humor in his images that reflects life in a Russia after perestroika. His travels in Eurasia and beyond inform his compelling portraits of peoples and places undergoing transition.      

Nistratov’s photographs are composed in such a way as to surprise, provoke and intrigue. Who is this young boy falling Icarus-like through the air? Why are these women in head scarves studying diagrams of female anatomy? What is the connection between household appliances arranged in the snow and the munitions factory in the background? And the military figures tilting bottles up into the sky, where are they headed?

We can’t pretend to fully read Nistratov’s images, so distant are we from the realities found in them, yet knowing context is not requisite to our engagement. To learn that the woman with a special talent for balancing spoons on her body is accomplishing this feat in below-zero conditions is cool to know, but this knowledge only adds resonance to this delightful Fellini-esque portrait. 

At times, a photograph brings to mind the work of an earlier artist. The photos of a bus bearing curious messages, for example, recall Walker Evans. Nistratov acknowledges these ties. “It was impossible,” he notes, “to avoid the influence of Cartier-Bresson or W. Eugene Smith and the general humanistic tradition in photography of the 20th century.” Filmmakers like Tarkovsky, Godard, Wenders and Tanner also helped shape his aesthetic.

Nistratov is often inspired to start shooting by something “that repels or…that needs to be photographed.” The process, he states, always involves “intuition, reflexes and the search for a miracle.” Sometimes, he adds, “God gives me gifts for my patience.”

Some of these gifts are featured in this remarkable exhibition. Thanks to the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts for introducing us to a modern master. 

– Carl Little has written about photography for Art New England, Art in America and other publications. He lives on Mount Desert Island.

Citations are from email correspondence with the artist, August 2014

The local identity, mentality, consciousness of the post-soviet people and their social environment and its vast territories are the main focus of Valeri Nistratov's artistic research. Travels to Afghanistan, Moldavia, Perm, Xuar and Mongolia inform his powerful perspective on contemporary life within the borders between Russian and Asia.  Nistratov's timing and sensitivity to the subjects he photographs are what make the photographs special.  The work is timely, personally political (these are every man) and important.

"This exhibition is a 21st Century example of post modern diplomacy through fine art".                      

- Anne B. Zill

Plus Minus

Influences

This exhibition was the idea of board member and photographer Judy Ellis Glickman and it is with her support that MMPA was able to make it happen.