Photo Hacks: Alexander Rodchenko and Moscow.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Alexander Rodchenko and Moscow.

A.Rodchenko in Paris. 1925

Alexander Rodchenko was a painter, a sculptor, a designer and a photographer. (read more here)

Moscow. Kropotkinskaya embankment. 1926

He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1891 His father was a theater props manager and his mother was a washerwoman.

Moscow. Pushkin monument. 1934

Moscow. Moskvoretsky bridge. 1932

The family's social status did not provide much opportunity for the artistic future for Alexander. His father wanted him to become a dental technician. Alexander worked as a dental technician for 2 years, but at the age of 19 he began his studies at the Kazan Art School and later at the Stroganov Institute in Moscow. His first abstract drawings were exhibited at expositions throughout the country.

Moscow. Street traffic.1932

By the early twenties Rodchenko became interested in photography.

Soon he has established a reputation as an innovator.

Rodchenko used perspective to create unique images. He put his viewers into a different perspective than their everyday viewpoint.

Moscow. Military parade on the Red square. 1934

He climbed into the Apollo Quadriga on the roof of the Bolshoi theatre; photographed Petrovka Street from the windows of the upper floors; watched the perspective of the streets from the roofs of houses.

Moscow. The Bolshoi theatre. 1928

Moscow. The Apollo Quadriga on the roof of the Bolshoi theatre. 1932

He needed a high point of view in order to convey the depth and the scale of urban space, its richness of details.

On the other hand, he was always interested in details of the urban life. Rodchenko’s photography helps us to imagine how people were dressed, how they moved through the streets, how they boarded a bus or a tram, where people had dinner in the late 1920's and early 1930’s. These events were endless, and only a camera could keep up with them.