Julia Borissova
Photobooks 2013-2017
The Farther Shore Self-published, 2013 Softcover with cardboard support by two red rubber bands Thread-stitched binding 15,5 cm x 22 cm 152 pages Language: English Print Edition of 100 Sold Out
“The Farther Shore” examines how the history of the past and present, endowed with memory, intertwine in today’s space. The images for this book were taken in Russia on the Volga River where in the 1930s a hydro-system was built. The area of about 4600 sq.km was flooded, and as a result 800 villages and towns, 3 cities, 5 monasteries, hundreds of churches and old cemeteries went under water. One of the main issues, which is the starting point for this book, is - why, during the evacuation of flooded land did some people prefer to stay in their homes and die rather than leave their native places? I was interested in what is left unsaid and unseen. I wanted to show and to give an opportunity to feel that these people and places are part of our history and that one day this story could disappear forever.
Awards & Fellowship: Solo Exhibition BEYOND THE SEEN - The Yard Gallery | Exeter School of Art, UK – 2016 The exhibition On Landscape #3 at Lower Hewood Farm, Chard Dorset - 2016; On Landscape #2 at Matèria Gallery, Rome, Italy – 2015; The exhibition “Modalità d’uso”, Palinsesti, Italy - 2015; “Photobook Dummy Award”, Kassel 2013 Shortlist “Los libros autopublicados más importantes del 2013” – Shortlist Collections: The Landscape Project book library, The Library Project, Indie Photobook Library, The Natural Collection, Self Publish, Be Happy
Running to the Edge Self-published, 2014 Hardback embossed 58 pages + 24 pages special section + 1 inserts and 1 booklet Printed on 3 types of paper 16 x 21cm Language: English / Russian Print Edition of 100 + Special edition Sold Out
This book is concerned with how history and memory are perceived through images. I explored means of creating content in the photos through their physical presence as objects and connecting them with natural elements, thus highlighting the presence of temporality. The flowers and petals mark the present, but at the same time they are a very powerful Vanitas symbol. Black-and-white photographs ‘mean’ a different era; they are a visual analogy of the idea of memory slipping away with time. The concept of this work is fragility and disappearance. For this work I turned to archival photos connected with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the first wave of emigration after it. The people in the photographs are strangers, I found their pictures and a diary at a flea market in St Petersburg. I don’t refer to my memory but to the memory of a nation. This
memory is connected to events from Russian history. The idea was to create an atmosphere of general, unspecified mourning for anonymous people through the medium of photography, the medium that is traditionally valued for its claim to authenticity.
Best Photobooks Lists: EMAHO Picks the Most Interesting Photobooks 2014: Selected by Douglas Stockdale - photographer, book artist, photobook reviewer, collector, and independent curator; Favourite photobooks of Jörg M. Colberg, professor of photography, founder and editor of Conscientious Photography Magazine; Photobook Club Tokyo Awards & Fellowship: Solo Exhibition RUNNING TO THE EDGE Metenkov’s House Museum of Photography, Yekaterinburg - 2017; NEW SPREAD in The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow - 2017; Solo Exhibition BEYOND THE SEEN - The Yard Gallery | Exeter School of Art, UK - 2016; INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks. Phoenix Art Museum - 2014 Collections: Indie Photobook Library, Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, The Library Project
Address Self-published, 2015 First English Edition of 100 hand numbered copies + Special edition of 25 copies with a limited edition inkjet prints (Baryta Hahnemulhe 315g, 20 x 15 cm, signed and numbered) Hardback embossed, thread-stitched binding 112 pages + 6 transparent pages 15,5 cm x 21 cm Language: English Regular edition: sold out Special edition: â‚Ź 160 $ 178
It is a deeply personal work based on my growing up in one of the districts in St. Petersburg, Russia, and it is some kind of meditation on my private relationship with the past. Urban environmental documentation in the compilation with some snapshots from my family archive, drawings and collages gives me a possibility to analyze and bridge a gap in my personal history.
Best Photobooks Lists: Best 2015 Josef Chladek’s favourite color photobooks; Calvert Journal: 29 of the best new east photo books 2015 Awards & Fellowship: Solo Exhibition RUNNING TO THE EDGE Metenkov’s House Museum of Photography, Yekaterinburg - 2017; The exhibition NEW SPREAD in The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow – 2017; Solo Exhibition BEYOND THE SEEN - The Yard Gallery | Exeter School of Art, UK – 2016; Contemporary photobooks exhibition, Museum of Photography, Yekaterinburg, Russia - 2016; Unveil’d Photobook Award 2015 - Winner; NOPX artist’s book context 2015 - Shortlist; Dummy Award Kassel 2015 - Shortlist; Belfast Photo Festival 2015 - Finalist
Collections: Book “Address” is part of Indie Photobook Library (USA), Centre for Fine Print Research. University of the West of England (Bristol)
DOM (Document Object Model) Self-published, 2016 First edition 2014 sold out Second edition of 75, comprising a signed and numbered book, 20 pages booklet and one of three inkjet prints (20 x 15 cm, signed and numbered 1-25/25) Gatefold softcover, swiss brochure, handmade binding 48 pages including 12 four-panel gatefolds 15 cm x 20 cm Language: English â‚Ź 60 $ 67
In my book I refer to the concept of home. ‘Dom’ means a house, home, a building or a household in the Russian language, but the title of my book also incorporates the meaning of DOM as an acronym for Document Object Model. That interpretation of the word DOM is expressed in the book, which is part document, part object, and features a model of a home in its photographs. I reflect on how we feel, understand, and remember the home where we inhabit. I explore how our concept of home is changing over time and the notion of home is transforming in connection with the place in which we live.
Best Photobooks Lists: Book DOM has been selected as one of ten favorite publications of the year by Sarah Bodman, senior research fellow at UWE Bristol’s Centre for Fine Print Research Awards & Fellowship: The exhibition New Spread in The Lumiere Brothers Center, Moscow – 2017; Fotofestiwal Lodz - The exhibition “Books to play with” at the Book Art Museum – 2017; The Second Triennial INFOCUS Exhibition of Photo Books, 2016 - 2017; Solo exhibition BEYOND THE SEEN at The Yard Gallery | Exeter School of Art, UK – 2016; Contemporary photobooks exhibition, Museum of Photography, Yekaterinburg 2016; The book’s space on International Festival of Rome - 2015; The Athens Photo Festival - 2015; Little big press > The book’s space, 3/3
Collections: Indie Photobook Library, The Library Project, PhotoBookAthens Library, Phoenix Art Museum (USA), Centre for Fine Print Research. University of the West of England (Bristol)
Dimitry Self-published, 2016 First Edition of 100 signed and numbered copies Die Cut Hardcover, handmade sewn binding 88 pages 14,5 cm x 19 cm Language: English / Russian Sold Out
A story that happened in the end of the XVI century Russia became the starting point for this work. Tsarevich Dimitry, the last son of Ivan the Terrible, died under mysterious circumstances from a knife wound to his throat, people speculated on the possible various causes for his death. I was intrigued by how the story can go on without the actions of the hero, and how his absence can play a major role and catalyse the further development of the story. It is absence that creates legends and turns them into myths over time. The history of the XVI century made me think of how images of the past can reform in our minds. Despite our overloading with visual information nowadays, photography still presents a representation of truth and reality in the news. When the identity of the present is constantly edited by mainstream media, I reflect on the tension between the visible and invisible, truth and lies – how it is possible to imagine a true picture of the world now.
Best Photobooks List by Colin Pantall - one of the Best Russian Self-Published Book of the Year 2016 Awards & Fellowship: RUNNING TO THE EDGE - Metenkov’s House Museum of Photography, Yekaterinburg 2017; NEW SPREAD in The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow - 2017; SCAN Tarragona Festival, 2016 - Shortlist; ENCONTROS DA IMAGEM International Photography Festival, 2016 - Shortlist; PHotoEspaña 2016 - Shortlist, Photobook Bristol 2016 - Shortlist, Analogue NOW! - Festival for analogue Photography, Berlin - 2016 BEYOND THE SEEN - The Yard Gallery | Exeter School of Art, UK - 2016 Collections: The National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Spanish National Library, Madrid
Libretto Self-published, 2016 First Edition of 105 signed and numbered copies Leporello format, handmade sewn binding 10,5 cm x 17 cm 38 pages Language: English Sold Out
This book reflects my interest in the relationship between photography and theatre as a space for representation. Bringing together my own images and photos from an unknown archive I created LIBRETTO as a construct of several pieces of real and imaginary life, of someone through the imitation of the theatrical stage. The combination of different layouts in the book can be understood as various mise-enscenès where multiple reference points — the history of a country, private archive, theatre and ballet — intersect. I offer everyone the opportunity to take on the role of spectator to establish an intimate link with the images and immerse themselves into their own experience.
I discovered an unknown archive at the flea market, which included some photographs and images of ballerinas cut from newspapers and the unfinished biography of one woman, who became an actress before the WWII. I felt an existence of unfulfilled desire in her history and drew my attention to it. I chose for the book only those pictures that allowed me to invent their origins, without referring to the documentary. The main thing was to create an overall sense between the images, since they had no obvious connections. Based on a Leporello format, I invented a design for this book which resembles a theater scene. This is not a book in the conventional sense - it is an object to interact with and examine, it is an installation.
Collections: Centre for Fine Print Research. University of the West of England (Bristol), Reminders Photography Stronghold (Tokyo), Virtual Bookshelf Josef Chladek
Libretto Postcards Set Self-published, 2017 Limited Edition of 105 signed and numbered copies 15 cm x 10 cm 20 single sheets, digital printing on cardboard Handmade Cover Language: English â‚Ź 25 $ 29
J. B. about men floating in the air Self-published, 2017 Second edition of 300 signed and numbered copies First Edition of 75 copies, 2015 sold out Linen hardcover with tipped in photographs Leporello format with one four-panel and two three-panel gate-folds Handmade sewn binding 28 pages 10 cm x 15 cm Language: English / Russian â‚Ź 35 $ 39
“J.B. about men floating in the air” was inspired by the story of two LithuanianAmerican pilots who tried to set a new world record by flying over the Atlantic into Eastern Europe in the early 1930s. I found a reference to the attempt in a Joseph Brodsky poem and decided to create my own ‘parallel world’ in black-and-white images. My story is about any person’s dream to break free of the vicious circle of all kinds of constraints and to fly away to a distant unknown in search of unlimited freedom, to find a true motherland and real home. It is also a story about a personal attempt to find a way to oneself through time and space, to break the invisible boundary between himself and his mirror twin, the mortal Castor and immortal Pollux, which is doomed to failure. Best Photobooks Lists: List of best books of 2016 at photo-eye; Source 88: The Photobook Issue The Greatest Photobooks of All Time: selected by Larissa Leclair; The first Photobook award Maribor Shortlist Awards & Fellowship: RUNNING TO THE EDGE - Metenkov’s House Museum of Photography, Yekaterinburg - 2017; NEW SPREAD in The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow - 2017; BEYOND THE SEEN - The Yard Gallery | Exeter School of Art, UK - 2016; The Second Triennial INFOCUS Exhibition of Photo Books Exhibition, 2016 - 2017; ENCONTROS DA IMAGEM International Photography Festival, the Discovery Award Exhibition - 2016; ‘Irren ist menschlich’ curated by Kaetha, Berlin - 2016; “Lithuanian nocturne”, “Arka” gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2015-2016 Collections: Tate Library Collection (London), Indie Photobook Library (USA), Phoenix Art Museum (USA), Centre for Fine Print Research. University of the West of England (Bristol), Reminders Photography Stronghold (Tokyo)
Red Giselle Self-published, 2017 Limited Edition of 100 signed and numbered copies Cardboard cover, Handmade 15 cm x 25 cm 32 pages including 2 transparent pages + 15 x 20 cm Postcard + An unique handmade collage 60x90 mm Language: English / Russian € 35 $ 39 Red Giselle is inspired by the tragic life of the famous Russian ballerina, Olga Spessivtseva whose stage career begun in Petrograd during the time of the Revolution. Her contemporaries called her “Red Giselle” because this role gave the immortality for her and at the same time became her biggest spiritual tragedy.
Lullaby for a Bride Self-published, 2017 Limited Edition of 100 signed and numbered copies 15 cm x 10 cm 17 single sheets, digital printing on cardboard. Handmade cover Language: English â‚Ź 23 $ 27
This project is a composition of photo collages and installation works. I focused on the theme of Wedding as a rite of initiation, drawing on my investigation of fairy tales and folk narratives, as well on the interdependence between people and nature.
BOOKS:
The Farther Shore / 2013 Running to the Edge / 2014 Address / 2015 DOM (Document Object Model) / 2016 (First edition 2014) Dimitry / 2016 Libretto / 2016 J. B. about men floating in the air / 2017 (First edition 2015) Red Giselle / 2017 Lullaby for a Bride / 2017
Š JULIA BORISSOVA www.juliaborissova.ru info@juliaborissova.ru