Boris Mikhailov

Phaidon 55s

by Gilda Williams

Boris Mikhailov (b.1938) is the former Soviet Union's most influential living photographer. His varied photographic strategies reveal not only a rich imagination but also practical solutions for survival. His work questions how an artist can position himself in a defeated, dying world. Other artists in this series Eugene Atget, Mathew Brady, Wynn Bullock, Julia Margaret Cameron, Joan Fontcuberta, David Goldblatt, Nan Goldin, Graciela Iturbide, Andre Kertesz, Dorothea Lange, Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerowitz, Lisette Model, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Eadweard Muybridge, Eugene Richards, W. Eugene Smith, Shomei Tomatsu, Joel-Peter Witkin

Genres: Photography, Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Haines Eason]

Mikhailov offers more than a peek behind the Steel Curtain, he transports you deep into the decayed Russian post-urban frontier. The journey is made all the more memorable for his willingness to share his humanity fully: he is selfless, humorous, at one with his subjects and his camera. His work grows in such surprising ways, and this retrospective leaves you wanting to spend more time with each of his projects.

[Jeff Jackson]

A brisk survey. Mikhailov's photographic series vary wildly in terms of style, approach, content -- and they're not all equally successful. But the best work here is breathtaking.