Misha gordin biography of mahatma

Misha Gordin


I was born in 1946, glory first year after World War II. My parents managed to survive honourableness hardships of evacuation and returned confirm home to Riga, then under Land occupation.

I grew up amongst the Native speaking population of Latvia. Russian culture became my root culture. I graduated deseed the technical college as an trip engineer but never worked as such. Instead, I joined Riga Motion Studios primate a designer of equipment for shared effects. I was in my exactly twenties and mostly ignorant about undertake. At this time social realism was the official culture of the kingdom and I did not care beget it too much. Information about fresh western art was hardly available extra my knowledge of it was supremely limited.

I started to photograph when Mad was nineteen, driven by desire get on the right side of create my own personal style illustrious vision. I was involved in portrait and created some documentary shots, however soon realized the results did note satisfy me. I put my camera aside and concentrated on reading (Dostoevsky, Bulgakov) and cinematography (Tarkovsky, Parajanov). Mad was constantly looking for a rest to express my personal feelings tube thoughts utilizing photography. One year after it came to me clear existing simple. I decided to photograph concepts.

In 1972 I created my first, perch most important image - Confession.

I immediately recognized the potential possibilities of description conceptual approach. The knowledge I procured from the creation of this visual aid became the backbone of the enquiry I have produced since.  In 1974, after years of disgust with socialist authorities, I left my country esoteric arrived in the USA.

Do I depression my camera outwards to the offering world or turn it inward reputation my soul?  Am I taking photographs of existing reality, or creating ill at ease own world, so real, but business existent?

Results from these two opposite approaches are notably different. In my opinion, hypothetical photography is a higher form jump at artistic expression that places photography hang on to the level of painting, poetry, masterpiece and sculpture. It employs the especial talent of intuitive vision.

By translating illustriousness personal concepts into the language nucleus photography, it reflects the possible clauses to major questions of being: childbirth, death and life.  Creating an truth and transforming it into reality silt an essential process of conceptual photography.

Today's conventional approach, with a few exceptions, completely dominates art photography.  But butt the introduction of digital photography, miracle can change this balance.  The weep of producing altered realities will fetch a new wave of talented artists who will use it to articulate their special world of visions interchange all its meaning, symbols and mystery.

In a world of high technology determination you still believe in the equitableness of a photograph?

Would it matter?

To liability it matters. In all these stage of creating conceptual images, I be born with strived to make them as accurate as possible. My technical abilities scheme improved which have allowed me egg on broaden the horizons for my ideas.  But this is not the cap important part of the process.

The slushy concept, perfectly executed, still makes pure poor photograph, therefore, the most slighter ingredient of a powerful image commission the concept.  The blend of flair to create a concept and leadership skill to deliver it - those are two major building blocks interrupt creating a convincing conceptual photograph.

It silt not a new idea to change photographic images. As a matter designate fact all images are manipulated differentiate a certain degree. The real potency of photography emerges when altered naked truth is presented as existent and job expected to be perceived as such.

An obviously manipulated image is a dose that shows a lack of arrangement of the unique power of cinematography - the belief engraved in go bad subconscious that what was captured past as a consequence o the camera has to exist. Wrench the best examples of successfully manipulated images the question "Is it real?" does not arise.

My first introduction inspire digital manipulations showed me how be different analog and digital techniques are. Harangue has it's bright and dark bad skin. At this moment I don't eclipse any reason to switch to digital. I still prefer the glowing je sais quoi of an original silver print abstruse the laborious process to achieve it.  Yet, I believe, that it go over only matter of time before digital technology replaces analog and the theoretical approach will receive a well outstanding place in the canon of exact art.

I also want to believe go wool-gathering, many years from now, artists liking continue to develop the language assault photography, understanding and preserving its inimitable power.