Artist: Alexey Titarenko

Alexey Titarenko was born on Vassilievsky Island in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1962. He began taking pictures in 1971, at the age of nine and graduated from the Leningrad Public University of Society-related Professions in 1978 with a degree in Photojournalism.

Historical Context: The historical context in which Titarenko developed his artistic vision played a crucial role in shaping his work. He witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent transition to a new era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 he produced several series of photographs about the human condition of the Russian people during this time and the suffering they endured throughout the twentieth century. To illustrate links between the present and the past, he created powerful metaphors by introducing long exposure and intentional camera movement into street photography. The most well-known series of this period is City of Shadows. In some images, urban landscapes reiterate the Odessa Steps (also known as the Potemkin Stairs) scene from Sergei Eisenstein’s film Battleship Potemkin (from ALEXEY TITARENKO).

Biographical Context: The city of Saint Petersburg, with its rich history and cultural heritage, serves as a backdrop for many of his works, reflecting his personal connection to the place and its people.

Psychological Context: Titarenko’s images evoke a range of emotions and states of mind. The blurred figures and ghostly atmosphere suggest a sense of isolation, alienation, and the passage of time. There is unique beauty in his photographs, as they capture the fleeting moments of everyday life and the human condition in a rapidly changing world.

This is a photo from Titartenko’s “City of Shadows” series. City of Shadows (1991–1994) captured the social and governmental entropy in multi-million Russia in its desperate attempt to break with the abbreviation “USSR” and head in a new direction. The photos in the series were taken after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when thousands of people in St. Petersburg were on the brink of survival and some were losing their lives due to the lack of basic living conditions and a crime boom (National Gallery).

The emptiness, color, and the motion of people create a depressing mood and make the audience feel a sense of strange quietness. The buildings in the back are clear and sharp, and the people walking are blurry. I think the time of the day is around afternoon or night, because the light is dark, and the buildings and sky seem dark. The building created lines as background, contrasting with the blurriness in front. The dominant object in this image is the two-person standing in the center. The white hats emphasize the people’s faces because it’s lighter than the surrounding colors. The complete black clothing also draws the audience’s eye to the center. The windows behind them created repetition, which also formed a creepy and depressed feeling. There is also a strong contrast and a wide tonal range, from the deep blacks to the white hats. The stability and lifelessness of the infrastructures created a contrast with the motion of people.

Since this photo is taken on the street, the lighting of this photo is using daylight and the street lights. It reveals some shadow detail and a range of tones. This photo has a large depth of field, using a large aperture, for example, f16. The shutter speed is slow to create the fuzzy outline of the motion of people (1/10 or 1/20???).

This image inspired me by showing me how different techniques and compositions can create different effects. His use of long exposures and intentional blurring creates a sense of movement and dynamism; The ghostly figures and the play of light and shadow add depth and texture to the images, making them visually captivating and mysterious.