From October 20 to 27, the Rodina cinema will host an exhibition of photographs by Alexander Samoilov, Gueorgui Pinkhassov, and Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev.
In 1974, Alexander Samoilov, then a staff photographer at Mosfilm and later a legendary unrecognized genius of Russian photography, worked on the set of Khamdamov’s lost film Unintentional Pleasures. While the film was in the making, together the actresses dressed in their on-set costumes, Samoilov was creating his own photo series—an aesthetic experiment stepping on to the visual territory of the 20th century’s first quarter.
© Alexander Samoilov’s photo (from the collection of Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev)
Thirty years later, Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev revisited this experience on the set of Parallel Voices, crafting his own photographic interpretation of Khamdamov’s world with the film’s actresses, leaving his own imprint on Khamdamov’s creative landscape.
© Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev’s photo
A few more years later, another photographer arrived on the set of Khamdamov’s The Bottomless Bag—this time, it was the internationally renowned Gueorgui Pinkhassov. He also captured the film’s premiere in Rotterdam directly from the screen, searching for frames with hidden, emblematic power and the depth of a hieroglyph.
© Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s photo
The Reflections exhibition at the Message to Man IFF brings together these three stories with a similar configuration. It explores a great master’s overtones and glimmers, as seen in various mirrors directed at him by three fellow artists.
The photographs by Gueorgui Pinkhassov and Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev are exhibited for the first time.
Solmaz Guseynova, curator of the exhibition: “In 2024, a woman drawn by Rustam Khamdamov gazes out from the poster of the Message to Man Film Festival. It is a highly recognizable image that he repeated many times—a graphic incantation which brings from oblivion the beauty that saves worlds.
In Khamdamov’s universe, the usual physical and geographical categories do not apply. We may never have been there, but on a sheet of paper, a canvas, or the miraculously preserved fragments of a lost film, we unmistakably recognize both time and place, as if in a dream. Khamdamov’s gravitational pull draws artists and photographers to the set, and from this, new worlds, alliances, plots, and fresh evidence of harmony and creativity emerge, where the actors, now captured in these photographs, acquire an existence parallel to the film.
© Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s photo
By creating this exchange between three photographers—Alexander Samoilov, Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev, and Gueorgui Pinkhassov—we observe different ways of interacting and capturing beauty. If images could produce sound, the viewer of Samoilov’s photographs would need to lean in and listen to the barely audible rustles, piecing together messages from fragments, and trying in vain to catch glances turned inward. Clavijo-Telepnev’s heroines are sweet-sounding, enchanting sirens—bright, alluring, dangerous—carefully studying the viewer like sphinxes, awaiting answers. In the magical interplay of light, color, and shadows in Pinkhassov’s world, beauty plays hide-and-seek with reality, beckoning and dancing in circles, while love elegies dissolve into the landscape, returning to their natural state.
The Reflections exhibition serves as a reminder of the core idea for which Message to Man has existed for 34 years: the beauty of the human being, which continues to be the measure of all things.”
PHOTOGRAPHERS BIOGRAPHY
Alexander Samoilov (1950 — 2022)
A distinguished and enigmatic Russian photographer, Samoilov cultivated his own metaphysical approach to photography, inspired by the philosophy of Berdyaev and Hegel. He spent hours observing axolotls and Achatina snails, and embarked on challenging motorcycle expeditions. From 1973 to 1978, he was a staff photographer at Mosfilm, collaborating with Khamdamov on the now-lost film Unintentional Pleasures and with Konchalovsky on Siberiade. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he partnered with Premier, L’Officiel, and Elle magazines. His works are preserved in museum collections, yet he remained outside conventional Russian photography circles. Even the all-knowing Wikipedia has yet to feature him.
Website: https://alexandersamoilov.com
Gueorgui Pinkhassov
A master of light and color and a legendary street photographer, Pinkhassov is the only Russian member at Magnum Photos. Born in 1952 in Moscow, he was drawn to photography as a student, captivated by its potential for freedom and discovery. He studied cinematography at VGIK beginning in 1969, later working with Mosfilm and photographing on Andrei Smirnov’s Faithfully and Truthfully. Noticed by Tarkovsky, he received an invitation to work on Stalker with creative freedom. Since moving to Paris in 1985 and joining Magnum in 1988, he has collaborated with leading global publications and participated in agency’s numerous exhibitions, group projects, and books. Pinkhassov’s work has earned prestigious international accolades.
Page on Magnum’s website: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/gueorgui-pinkhassov/
Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev
A photographer, artist, and pioneer of unique photographic techniques like “églomisé” and direct printing on wood, Clavijo-Telepnev was born in 1962 in Moscow. He graduated as a graphic artist from the Moscow Printing Academy and began his career as a photojournalist covering trouble spots for Italian, French, and Spanish outlets. Between 2000 and 2010, he taught photography at the Moscow State University’s journalism department and opened his own photography school in 2001. His accolades include the European Prize for the best photo album of Eastern Europe (2002) and first place in the “Fine Arts and Architecture” section at the Moscow Art Prize (2023). Known globally as the creator of photo illustrations for Alice in Wonderland, his works are held in collections such as the Pushkin Museum (40 works), the Russian Museum, and the Moscow Kremlin.
Personal website: https://clavijo.ru