He is a Russian photographer born in November 1962 and graduated with a degree in Photojournalism. In 1991 he used the camera to produce series on the human condition in Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed. From this period his most well known work 'City of Shadows' 1991 - 1994, was formed. In the series he used long exposure and intentional camera movement into street photography.
(http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/about)
'Vasileostrovskaya Metro station, 1992 (Crowd 1)' from the 'City of Shadows' series
'Crowd at the Metro entrance, 1993 (Crowd 2)' from the 'City of Shadows' series
His idea behind the series was to capture the suffering and depressive nature of the people in Russia after WW2. He describes them as ' eyes full of sorrow and desperation, tottering on their routine dreary routes with their last ounce of strength, in search of some food which could prolong their lives and the lives of their families. They looked like shadows, undernourished and worn out,' (http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/#/cityofshadows/). The way he went about this was to use a long exposure time that he had learnt in childhood and captured the crowds of people at the entrance to the Metro.
The photos above is from the series 'City of Shadows' and it shows a massive chaotic movement of a mass of fast moving people. The long exposure has blurred all the people into one mass which looks like dense, dark fog tumbling down over the stairs. The fact that people had paused long enough to just leave there hand upon the metal barrier form a bit of unease in the viewer as it just seems to be a hand, none of them are "connected" to anything.
'Trolley on Nevsky Prospect, 1992' from the 'City of Shadows' series
'Rain on Nevsky Prospect, 1993' from the 'City of Shadows' series
This other photos from the series really show the suffering and depressive nature of the people as they try and continue with there every day life. In the first photo it is shown through the people hurrying about with the only thing proving that they were there was a blur within the photo. This shows that without the picture proof the suffering of the people would never truly be known. In the second photo the really blurriness of the peoples faces mask any expression however the people who has the clearest face looks like they are looking down and seem to be sad. As a result its quite a depressive scene as you can imagine everyone face being the same as they get lost in the indecipherable blurs of other people.
Influence
Summary
The influence of Alexey Titarenko was used in shoot 5 where i used there technique of motion blur in order to create movement. This photo is reminiscent of there work however not as drastic due to a difference in the amount of time during the shutter speed. However the same technical approach was undertaken to create the same effects.
This is the photographer that really made me think about how I execute my work and how I used similar ideas to the photographers but then adapted them to my own work to suit my project.
This is the photographer that really made me think about how I execute my work and how I used similar ideas to the photographers but then adapted them to my own work to suit my project.
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