Grad Beograd

A vision of the future from the past – perhaps this is how Belgrade could be described. This is a “dreamy” city. Despite the fact that I came from another country and was there temporarily – in Belgrade, for a while, I stopped feeling the passage of time and I didn’t think about money.

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The Serbian word “Polako” immediately comes to mind – which can be translated as “be calmer” and/or “be easy” (“lako” = “easy”), but more literally it means “slower”. Serbs live precisely in this rhythm. I noted for myself that in Turkey people are not a hurry. Perhaps this is due to the fact that these countries are southern and the warm climate is not conducive to haste.

Belgrade is an interesting city – it combines “two times”: a sort of provincial town of the late 19th century and a space city of the future. Of course, the future that our parents and grandparents imagined.

Belgrade grew slowly and looks frozen in time after the US aggression against Yugoslavia, and the next division of the country. Yes, the city is in good condition – people live well in it, but there is a feeling of sadness. It looks better than Russian cities precisely because of its vital energy. But the new buildings in Belgrade look empty and faceless – not for living:

I am not opposed to new buildings and new things. I don’t feel nostalgia either, since I was born later than 1991. But, I’m not blind and I have a sense of beauty. It is difficult to love utilitarian things, houses and products whose utilitarian purpose is to get money for them. Don’t use them, don’t live, but get money quickly by selling them.

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City of Bourgeois

Belgrade’s old town looks like it’s from the 19th century. Narrow cobbled streets and a stronghold on a hill. For the ears of a Russian person, the Serbian language is a little funny. When I hear Serbian, I imagine that I am somewhere among our ancient slavic ancestors in the 9th century.

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Lots of restaurants, shops and sun.

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Kodak Gold 200 again and the old district – Zemun. Unlike the city center, there are almost no buildings from the mid or late 20th century.

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There are retro trams in Belgrade. There are also new ones, but I didn’t photograph them. The retro trams were a gift from Switzerland – they are thin and seem cramped after Russian trams. But in Belgrade there are not as many people as in Moscow / Istanbul and there is enough space for everyone.

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To be honest, I didn’t photograph much of the old city that look like they belong on tourist postcards. But you can enjoy the Serbian “polako”:

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There are many gypsies in Belgrade. They literally live in the 19th century: cutting the grass with a scythe and riding carts:

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City of Space

Belgrade – a city of dreams about space and the future.

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I love modernism and controversial brutalism in architecture. Apart from the rarely-rarely used bio-tech and high-tech styles in architecture in our time – modernism and controversial brutalism are still the last ones aimed at something dreamy. It continue to resist the utilitarian architecture of shopping and entertainment hangars and “human hive houses”.

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The bedroom community of New Belgrade seem to have frozen in time, but at the same time they are full of life. It’s just timeless. In my opinion, the space of such green areas and blocks is as laconic and thoughtful as possible – space place. Lots of green islands, playgrounds and opportunities for the sun to shine on everything.

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The last photo shows an office and residential complex from the 70s. Apotheosis of dreams. I wouldn’t say that this building is very beautiful or that everything is ergonomic, but it’s definitely more pleasant for me to see it and walk nearby it.

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This photos were taken on slide positive film, but due to the lack of chemistry, they were developed just like regular negative film. It seems to me that houses “on legs” (last photo) above are impossible in our time – this is the lack of shops on the ground floors and minus apartments that could be sold.

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Would I recommend visiting Belgrade? I don’t think it’s for everyone. It is difficult to decide for others. Belgrade doesn’t have much of the entertainment that we are used to in big cities such as Moscow or Istanbul. There are not many shopping centers or cinemas and not many bars and clubs. Belgrade personally showed me a place for creativity and dreams, a place where you can live, but not running away from reality – this is not necessary there. Reality is timeless.

White & Black


In the city of Volgograd, where I was born, black and white film could not be developed, so I limited myself to shooting with one roll, which we developed manually.

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Above – some of my first b/w photos. Soviet old film (I don’t remember which one) on FED-2.

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3 years ago I moved to Moscow….

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After moving to another city, I decided to try b/w film again – actually, in the first days of my stay in a new city. It seemed like something new, especially after a long break. The excellent Summicron-R 90mm provided the best quality after the Soviet lenses. Unfortunately, the Leica R system did not get along with me: it`s heavy and large compared to rangefinder cameras.

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Black and White Moscow – 2017. Leica R

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Testing the pen by portrait B/W photography. Leica R

I’ve always liked “colorless” photography – a kind of “clean” picture of light and shadow. Although it is important for me that monochrome photography does not slide into a simple picture with a b/w filter as much as possible. At the beginning of my acquaintance with different b/w films I filmed without looking for a specially suitable subject for the lack of color. Now, I take with me two cameras with me. So that I have a choice between monochrome and color. Sometimes a digital camera becomes “monochrome”- Leica M9 handles it like no other. Fuji X-Pro1 excellent shooting b/w too.

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Zeiss Ikon`1922 – film Type 120

Originally, I needed photography to visualize memories. More precisely, it was something like a sketch pad. Sketches are essential for inspiration to start painting on canvas/paper later. Unfortunately, after the move, I never started painting, but continue to photography. Hopefully I’ll get back to the initial idea soon.

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My first camera was bought as a sketch tool for the artist’s grandfather, as described in my article about him.

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Moscow still makes me curious – each of it`s street. Walking around Moscow gradually introduced me to street photography.

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Despite my love for monochrome photography, I have not given up on color. I do not want to choose one thing. What for? My grandpa sometimes painted as graphics and painting.

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Partly black and white photography helps me not to notice the grayness of the Russian sky. The sun is not a frequent visitor to us. Even the fact that in the photo the sky will be gray anyway (most often) – it`s not perceived in contrast with other objects. Also, due to the grayness of the sky faded colors are not visible in monochrome photography, which is obvious.

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As I have noticed, photographers try to maximize the colors in their photographs, especially taken in cloudy. Unfortunately, in these cases the photo loses its realism and becomes somewhat cartoony. Taking into account the fact that photography more often and so tries to bring a special look – the intensification of the color gives the effect of “butter oil”. To be fair: a realistic photo on a cloudy day is often very dull.

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My street photography started out as a “sketch in a notebook” and is now gradually moving to documentary. An idea to shoot in such a way that the photo is a reflection of my thoughts about the subjects comes to my mind. Although it seems physically impossible. Perhaps, it should turn out so that the plot, light or color hint to the viewer about the way of thinking.

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Grandpa Lenin

Having tried many films, I came to the conclusion that the whole ILFORD film is more or less good… But FOMAPAN and the ILFORD`s Kentmere scion are not very good. I liked the domestic monochrome A-125: it has a strong contrast and moderate grain, plus sometimes it gives an infrared effect.

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The same effect

Most likely the A-125 is more sensitive to infrared light. Under certain conditions unknown to me, the sky in photographs may turn black in contrast with a bright light object.

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High contrast

So far, for me it`s more convenient to shoot b/w film, since after developing a scan or when printing, you do not need to radically finish something with tones or contrast. At least I don’t do that. Of modern digital photographers who shoot only in b/w I like Alan Schaller, but he clearly has deep processing of photos.

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Russia. Kaluga Streets

Definitely I will continue to take with b/w film, more and more immersed in documentary photo. Perhaps I will be able to express my felt emotions and thoughts through photography.

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As a result of October 2020 one of my photographs went to the exhibition (Moscow):

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This is how my first three years of black and white photography went.

At the sea

Fujifilm Superia 400

The sudden and prolonged coronavirus epidemic quickly escalated into a pandemic. Epidemic put an end to travel abroad. On another vacation, I went to Crimea again. Sevastopol temporarily remained closed to the tourist visit, so we stopped in Yalta, just like a year ago. This time I chose the apartment as close to the sea as possible. Continue reading

The Hunter

My grandfather had a great influence on me, especially on my formation. If my father influenced to my choice of engineering profession, then my grandfather determined my creative development. So it happened that in my childhood, during the dashing 90s and not rich 00s, I spent most of the weekends and even some part of the my summers with my grandparents and in my student days I completely moved to them. Continue reading

There and back

Ilford delta 3200

Russia is a centralized state and, unfortunately, this is primarily expressed about the redistribution of income and wealth, and transport logistics too. You can make flights from Moscow anywhere, unlike Volgograd. Since I live in Moscow, I decided to use this advantages of centralization. I spent the accumulated days of vacation on a trip to St. Petersburg and Kazan. I have never been to Kazan before.

Continue reading

Leica

Outstanding issues:

Should I buy a camera for $ 7,000? What If camera costs $ 1400 now? I definitely want an electric car for myself, but is it worth it? These questions may have diametrically opposite answers, and they will all be correct. For me, this is akin like choosing to buy Apple products or coffee from Starbucks. Continue reading

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