Photo © Andrey Semenov
Nature - 2ND PLACE WINNER: Andrey Semenov
Invasion
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Earth equally soaks up temple and shit. Close your eyes for a minute, and cities surrounding you will disappear. So-called artefacts, like buildings, highways, airports or shopping malls, which are considered to be the proof of superiority of certain species of this planet – all of them remind of a village on the back of a giant Whale from a fairy-tale: it exists as long as the carrier tolerates.
But as soon as the Whale gets tired of drowsing around the same place – it will snort, dive into the depths, and everything will be swept away in an instant.
In the beginning of the 20th century the Russian philosopher Berdyaev wrote the article "Human and Machine" and discoursed about that in the era of industrialization the human has forgotten his humanistic ideals which were turned to the soul, ideals were born from nature, and he has created new – the machines.
"The man is the winner of Nature"– teachers told us in elementary school. And we – children of the big cities – we readily believed. But it was enough to leave the familiar urban space and this faith vanished.
This project was made in Russia, on the Kola Peninsula, on the shore of the White Sea. Sometime it was the land of the rich fishery, strict land for a living. But now life left this place. It's in a state of neglect after the USSR collapse.
People still cling onto the stones and the shore, but now this place looks like a field after the battle. The winners have gone away leaving here the artefacts like they leave the empty cans or cigarette butts after the picnic.
The self-appointed cardboard kings, the loser has not noticed that you have struggled against him.
About author:
Andrey Semenov hail from Kostroma (b. 1976) – old and picturesque small town steeped in history. Now the artist is based in Moscow, Russia. Andrey Semenov’s works are focused on human-environment relationship, borders between person and state, also he works with subject of identity.
Education
1993-97 — Kazan State University, Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics,
2015 — studied photography in school Elena Suhoveeva and Victor Hmel (Krasnodar, Russia).
Exhibitions and Awards
2017, "Photoparade in Uglich" Photofestival (Uglich, Russia). "Invasion", personal exibition. Curator Alla Mirovskaya.
2017, "Analogue Photography", Belgrade, Serbia. Participation in the group exhibition in the "Bartcelona" gallery. Curator David Pujadó.
2017, Revolution Photofestival, Italy. The "Invasion" project was exhibited in festival program. Curator Maria Lanotte
— Barletta, (July 2017)
— Minturno, in the Castello Baronale (June 2017)
— Lanciano, in the Polo Museale Santo Spirito (May 2017)
2017, Orvieto Fotografia Festival, Italy. The "Invasion" project was exhibited in festival program
2017, Krasnodar Regional Showroom of Fine Arts. Group exhibition "Human / Nature : Lost in Translation". Curator Irina Tchmyreva
2016, PhotoVisa Festival (Krasnodar, Russia), international portfolio review winner
2016, PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, Russia. Showing of the project "Invasion" in the multimedia program. Curator Irina Tchmyreva
2015, PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, Russia. "Identification" — group exhibition. Project "Born to be Free", curator Elena Sukhoveeva.
2015, Second place in the international portfolio review at the PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, Russia.
But as soon as the Whale gets tired of drowsing around the same place – it will snort, dive into the depths, and everything will be swept away in an instant.
In the beginning of the 20th century the Russian philosopher Berdyaev wrote the article "Human and Machine" and discoursed about that in the era of industrialization the human has forgotten his humanistic ideals which were turned to the soul, ideals were born from nature, and he has created new – the machines.
"The man is the winner of Nature"– teachers told us in elementary school. And we – children of the big cities – we readily believed. But it was enough to leave the familiar urban space and this faith vanished.
This project was made in Russia, on the Kola Peninsula, on the shore of the White Sea. Sometime it was the land of the rich fishery, strict land for a living. But now life left this place. It's in a state of neglect after the USSR collapse.
People still cling onto the stones and the shore, but now this place looks like a field after the battle. The winners have gone away leaving here the artefacts like they leave the empty cans or cigarette butts after the picnic.
The self-appointed cardboard kings, the loser has not noticed that you have struggled against him.
About author:
Andrey Semenov hail from Kostroma (b. 1976) – old and picturesque small town steeped in history. Now the artist is based in Moscow, Russia. Andrey Semenov’s works are focused on human-environment relationship, borders between person and state, also he works with subject of identity.
Education
1993-97 — Kazan State University, Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics,
2015 — studied photography in school Elena Suhoveeva and Victor Hmel (Krasnodar, Russia).
Exhibitions and Awards
2017, "Photoparade in Uglich" Photofestival (Uglich, Russia). "Invasion", personal exibition. Curator Alla Mirovskaya.
2017, "Analogue Photography", Belgrade, Serbia. Participation in the group exhibition in the "Bartcelona" gallery. Curator David Pujadó.
2017, Revolution Photofestival, Italy. The "Invasion" project was exhibited in festival program. Curator Maria Lanotte
— Barletta, (July 2017)
— Minturno, in the Castello Baronale (June 2017)
— Lanciano, in the Polo Museale Santo Spirito (May 2017)
2017, Orvieto Fotografia Festival, Italy. The "Invasion" project was exhibited in festival program
2017, Krasnodar Regional Showroom of Fine Arts. Group exhibition "Human / Nature : Lost in Translation". Curator Irina Tchmyreva
2016, PhotoVisa Festival (Krasnodar, Russia), international portfolio review winner
2016, PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, Russia. Showing of the project "Invasion" in the multimedia program. Curator Irina Tchmyreva
2015, PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, Russia. "Identification" — group exhibition. Project "Born to be Free", curator Elena Sukhoveeva.
2015, Second place in the international portfolio review at the PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, Russia.