RUSSIAN
INDEPENDENT
SELF-PUBLISHED
Mythologique
Elena Anosova, Ekaterina Ashitkova, Natalia Baluta, Anastasia Bogomolova, Varvara Kuzmina, Sergey Poteryaev, Juliana Semenova The collective project of seven artists from Russia, dedicated to the study of the regional mythology. The space cold in Yakutsk, the search for traces of collision with the Universe, the myth of the space pioneer, the story of the pilot-spy, unreal urban landscapes, people who departed from the shore of the Aral Sea and the life of hunters from the Nizhnaya Tunguska are the parts of this exhibition project.
Date of publication: 2016 16 pages Without binding Language: Russian, English Edition of 60 copies Publisher: Self-published Designer: TungusBodr Editor: Anastasia Bogomolova, Varvara Kuzmina
Miรฐnรฆtursรณl/Midnight Sun Alla Mirovskaya
The photos used in this work were shot in Iceland, but could have been created as easily at any place far from my home. I try to recognize the function of memory in a photograph, and I delete parts of the exposures so that they would resemble my memories, which cannot be reproduced by memory in their original form. I choose fragments of photos to delete based on a chance and an impulse, just like most of the photos this project contains. Any other part of the photo could have disappeared. I guess that in this form the images look like an Icelandic landscape illuminated by midnight sun, when most of the things you could see had disappeared from view.
Set-transformer of postcards in shell Date of publication: 2015 Dimensions: 130mm x 80mm 24 postcards + 1 kraft bag with a label Edition of 30 (10 in Russian, 20 in English) Designer: Kate October www.allamirovskaya.viewbook.com
Old family photos and deep sky objects Alla Mirovskaya
In the project I am working with my own personal archive, including photos, letters, greeting cards. These photos have been taken by the my family members, myself and unknown photographers in photo studios in Russia and the Soviet Union since 1900s until now. The sequence of the project includes the images of deep sky objects made by the US space telescopes Hubble and Chandra. The use of space images in the project shows commonality in the nature of old photos and remote deep sky objects existing at giant distances in the Universe. Red color which tints a few shots, emphasizes blood ties of the people in the photographs, as well as their communist past.
Date of publication: 2016 Dimensions: 148mm x 210mm 128 pages Integral binding Edition 100 copies, numbered and signed www.allamirovskaya.viewbook.com
Running to the Edge Julia Borissova
In this book I have concerned myself with the way that history and memory are perceived through images. I explore a way of creating content around the photos through their physical presence as objects, connecting them with natural elements, thus highlighting their temporality. In my work I turn to archival photos connected with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the first wave of emigration after it. I don’t refer to my memory but to the memory of the nation. This memory is connected to the 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.
Date of publication: 2014 Dimensions: 160mm x 210mm 58 pages + 24 pages special section + 2 inserts Hardback embossed, thread-stitched binding Special Edition of 20 hand numbered and signed copies Designer: Julia Borissova www.juliaborissova.ru
DOM (Document Object Model) Julia Borissova
In my book I refer to the concept of home. “Dom� means a house, home, a building or a household in the Russian language. 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. Date of publication: 2014 Dimensions: 150mm x 200mm 48 pages including 12 four-panel gatefolds + 20 pages booklet Gatefold softcover Swiss brochure, handmade binding Language: English First Edition of 100 hand numbered copies Designer: Julia Borissova www.juliaborissova.ru
Address
Julia Borissova This book is an attempt to connect my past place of residence with present myself. When time is a barrier, find identification with the past becomes more difficult. In my work I tried come up possibility of interaction the surrounding space with the images arise in my imagination. This is fear to allow the disappearance of memory space. This is desire to show the dream on a background of urban space, creating a visual model at the intersection of past and present.
Date of publication: 2015 Dimensions: 155mm x 210mm 112 pages + 6 transparent pages Hardback embossed, thread-stitched binding Language: English First English Edition of 100 hand numbered copies + Special edition of 25 copies signed & numbered with a print Designer: Julia Borissova www.juliaborissova.ru
J. B. about men floating in the air Julia Borissova
“J.B. about men floating in the air” was inspired by the story of two Lithuanian-American 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 the dream of every person to break out from the vice of all kinds of prohibitions and fly away to a distant unknown in search of unlimited freedom and find there his true motherland and real home.
Date of publication: 2017 Dimensions: 100mm x 150mm 28 pages Hardcover, Leporello Binding, Handmade Language: English / Russian Second Edition of 300 signed and hand numbered copies Designer: Julia Borissova www.juliaborissova.ru
Libretto
Julia Borissova This book reflects my interest in the relationship between photography and theater as a space for representation. Bringing together my own pictures 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 my book can be understood as various miseen-scenes where multiple reference points — the history of country, private archive, theater and ballet — intersect. I offer everyone the opportunity to take on the role of a spectator so as to establish an intimate link with the images and immerse oneself into the own experience.
Date of publication: 2016 Dimensions: 105 x 170 mm Leporello binding, Handmade 38 pages / 21 pictures First Edition of 105 hand numbered and signed copies Designer: Julia Borissova www.juliaborissova.ru
Red Giselle
Julia Borissova 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. Collages / Design: Julia Borissova Date of publication: 2017 Dimensions: 150mm x 205mm Cardboard cover, Handmade 32 pages including 2 transparent pages + 150x200 mm Postcard + An unique handmade collage 60x90 mm Language: English / Russian Limited-edition of 100 signed and numbered copies www.juliaborissova.ru
Потом / after a while Natalia Baluta
The core question of my project and the book is whether or not future can appear in the photo. I am giving the answer in the different ways, but it always “yes”. This book is a message in a bottle - it holds some images from the past and present and from perceived future. It is a combination of analytical research, personal diary with things which could be lost forever. It is also search for miracle to imagine or predict the future with photographic approaches. There are two versions of ending – different image appears as the last one, representing more and less happy future; the viewer to decide which one s/he holds.
Date of publication: 2014 Dimensions: 145mm x 220mm 124 pages with hand made elements Hardback cover, sewn binding Language: English and Russian Edition of 100 numbered and signed copies Designer: Julia Borissova www.nataliabaluta.viewbook.com
Magma
Natalia Baluta The book is done from appropriated material - glossy magazine found prepared to shredding, so beautiful and so abandoned. It is about excess of data and meanings in modern society, and at the same time concerns about fashion, mass media and propaganda, which limits range of meanings so much. The result is the small book, hand bound, with collages and text manipulations.
Date of publication: 2015 Dimensions: 140mm x 230mm 52 pages Language: English Edition of 9 copies Collages, text manipulations, design and binding by Natalia Baluta www.nataliabaluta.viewbook.com
Did we ever meet? Lena Kholkina
Did we ever meet? is a project bringing together two generations of Moscow photographers. Photographs from now and from the 80s tell a story about timelapse, sameness and mirroring lives, the spiral of time that makes us different and similar at the same time. All photos are by Tatyana Soldatova and Elena Kholkina.
Date of publication: 2013 The book has a complex system of pages of different sizes and spreads, on tactile paper. Manually bound, soft cover Language: English Edition of 50 hand numbered copies + Special edition in hard cover: 15 copies signed & numbered Designer: Elena Kholkina www.offonroad.com
Doorways
Lena Kholkina Doorways is a book of personal diary images I’ve collected over a couple of years. The book is built in a complex way, the system of hand-bound pages brings volume and turns it almost into a sculpture. The images included are doorways into each other, they are connected formally in a number of ways. There is no narrative, no main characters, no events, only a smooth flow of images, a mental trip that aims to clear viewer’s mind of everyday thoughts. There are several enigmas hidden inside the book and keys to unravel them, which will probably take time to guess and will invite viewers to come back to the book again and again. I call it a zen book - a tool for visual meditation, for being simply here and now. Date of publication: 2014 manually bound embroidered box inkjet printing, on tactile paper edition limited to 100 copies, signed Designer: Elena Kholkina www.offonroad.com
5 Hills Story
Vlada Krasilnikova & Lena Kholkina Date of publication: 2014 manually bound limited edition of 20 copies, signed and numbered 20,5 x 18 cm, 48 pages varied page sizes Book design - Vlada Krasilnikova, Elena Kholkina
Pink
Lena Kholkina Date of publication: 2014 Self-published zine manually bound soft tactile cover inkjet printing 88 pages edition limited to 100 copies, signed
Artek
Lena Kholkina Crimea is not just about politics. Crimea is Artek. Artek was an international pioneer camp on the black sea in the town of Hurzuf on the Crimean peninsula. It was established in 1925 and flourished in the Soviet times. Going to Artek was a privilege for any child and an experience that no one ever forgets. Friends you find in Artek are forever. The zine is a reedit of a personal archive of my friend, who went to Artek in 1982. The archive consisted of a diary, a book of songs, postcards, photographs and some scraps. The zine collects the most touching, genuine and amusing memories and plays around with bits and pieces.
Date of publication: 2014 Self-published zine edition limited to 100 copies, signed inkjet printing manually bound handmade details 44 pages tactile paper
Photo zine
Lena Kholkina Photographing is a way to create a holiday. Even if you are in a bad mood, you shoot and preserve to create the appearance of a holiday, even if it is deferred until later. The zine is dedicated to the fading culture of a family photographic album. Limited Edition 2015, 50 copies, signed and numbered inkjet printed,
manually bound, 38 pages
Your cat
Lena Kholkina Self-published zine Limited edition 2015, 50 copies, signed and numbered inkjet printed, manually bound
Time of the Moon Lena Kholkina
Time of the Moon is an attempt to re-imagine my country’s timeline through the eyes of an architectural ensemble that exists in the heart of Moscow since 1920s and has experienced and manifested all the major changes in the Soviet-then-Russian history, that was built to play a very important role in the USSR and has been gradually falling into decay since 90s - VDNH. A place of great power from the past and possibly the future, its function is now undefined, inarticulate, and the place itself is now at point zero, in coma. Its future is to be re-imagined and new possibilities must be created on top of all the great history behind them. Re-imagining means making scenarios, and scenarios allow us to treat unexpected things as attainable and to realize them, even if centuries later, as happened with the human landing on the Moon. Date of publication: 2016 20x26 cm, 100 pages digitally printed, manually bound, hardcover limited edition of 50 copies, signed and numbered www.offonroad.com
100%withDOG
Svetlana Kastyukevich & Lena Kholkina Stop here. Go out of the shopping mall. Turn right, make two hundres and eighty four steps and… press the button. Here you are. Don’t look down, keep straight on. Open the door, yes, this one, between Aphrodite of Knidos and Bristol Babe plane. Come in and keep silence. Look! On your left there’s a sheet. It’s a letter for you. Read it aloud. «Wasn’t it you to steal the glasses?» If it wasn’t, open the book. I would say that it is a research of «imperceptible» Moscow and «imperceptible» people, our synthetical contact through the random thing, the borders between us or our total convergence. But I won’t. Cause my name is Sveta, I’m a photographer, I am just shooting the project a hundred per cent withadog. Take the dog. Stand still and for God’s sake don’t smile – remember what are you standing with.
Svetlana Kastyukevich (photography), Lena Kholkina (design) 13x18cm, soft cover, digitally printed, hand-bound Limited edition of 50 copies
Little Funny Story, issues #1,2,3,4,5 Vlada Krasilnikova & Lena Kholkina
New series of zines by Vlada Krasilnikova tell funny stories about men, women, boots, horses, trees, houses, fences, good & bad weather in and around Moscow (and other nice cities). Each issue focuses on one topic, providing an ironic, touching and colorful study of concepts relevant to modern city-dwellers (melancholy, dreams, amnesia, privacy, delusion).
Self-published series of zines Vlada Krasilnikova (photography) Lena Kholkina (design) Each issue is 13x18cm, 64 pages, soft cover, hand bound, inkjet printed Limited edition of 50 copies each issue, signed and numbered www.offonroad.com
Lookbook
Anastasia Bogomolova «Lookbook, where I use my mother’s old clothes, 1990s’ cosmetics and grandmother’s fabrics as a background, has grown out of a desire to restore the images of women of elder generations in the family. But eventually it has turned into a story about the search for my own femininity and sexuality, my first idea of which was formed by Soviet fashion magazines. Working on this project, I reconstructed a girl’s ritual of fitting her mother’s dresses, trying to rethink childish experience already in adulthood, when I’m approaching the age when my mother gave birth to me».
Date of publication: 2016 21 cm x 28,5 cm 40 pages + 32 pages of inserts Language: English and Russian First edition of 90 signed and hand numbered copies Designer: Julia Borissova www.anastasiabogomolova.com
Waiting
Jana Romanova Young Russian couples, inhabitants of Saint-Petersburg and Moscow, are sleeping in their bedrooms early in the morning, the time when people don’t really care about their appearance, being natural. They are preparing to become parents in few months, and the project investigates not only their attitude to each other during the period of expecting a baby, but also the way young families live in big cities of modern Russia, 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the country that will be known to their children only from history books.
Date of publication: 2015Â 24,5 cm x 16 cm 96 pages Edition of 500 Designer: Anton Lepashov www.janaromanova.com
BOOKS: Mythologique / Elena Anosova, Ekaterina Ashitkova, Natalia Baluta, Anastasia Bogomolova, Varvara Kuzmina, Sergey Poteryaev, Juliana Semenova Miðnætursól/Midnight Sun / Alla Mirovskaya Old family photos and deep sky objects / Alla Mirovskaya Running to the Edge / Julia Borissova DOM (Document Object Model) / Julia Borissova Address / Julia Borissova J.B. about men floating in the air / Julia Borissova Libretto / Julia Borissova Red Giselle / Julia Borissova Потом/after a while / Natalia Baluta Magma / Natalia Baluta Did we ever meet? / Lena Kholkina Doorways / Lena Kholkina 5 Hills Story / Vlada Krasilnikova,Lena Kholkina Pink / Lena Kholkina Artek / Lena Kholkina Photo zine / Lena Kholkina Your cat / Lena Kholkina Time of the Moon / Lena Kholkina 100%withDOG / Svetlana Kastyukevich,Lena Kholkina Little Funny Story / Vlada Krasilnikova,Lena Kholkina Lookbook / Anastasia Bogomolova Waiting / Jana Romanova