Gueorgui Pinkhassov. Still Sparkling Baltics
Friday, 08. sep 2017
11.09.–8.10.2017 at the Estonian National Museum
The exhibition titled Still Sparkling Baltics is a part of the project that started with a year-long journey around Baltic states. Still Sparkling team along with the invited photographer Gueorgui Pinkhassov travelled three countries to conceptualize the modern gastronomic culture, collect notes on the most extraordinary restaurants and dishes served by the best chefs in Baltics. The list of restaurants, collected during the trip, is about to come out as a book/contemporary gastro-guide* that reveals not only the interiors and the food, but also faces of the cities visited. In the Still Sparkling Baltic photo story, cities like Riga, Tartu, Tallinn, Vilnius and Kaunas are shown as cold and warm simultaneously by Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s camera, a bit harsh and tender at the same time. The aim is to show the real essence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia without clichés meant for tourists but with a taste. You see fragments of Riga Art Nouveau architecture and Central Market, corners of Tallinn Old Town as well as the details of everyday moments and their reflections in windows of cafes and bus stops captured by Pinkhassov.
Gueorgui Pinkhassov (born 1952) is a Russian photographer, a member of the Paris-based agency Magnum (Independent Photo Agency, founded by Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Werner Bischop et al. 1947), World Press Photo for Arts and Entertainment award winner. He graduated from Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and worked as a set photographer with the film crew for Mosfilm. He has also worked on a set of the legendary movie Stalker by Andrey Tarkovsky. Later on Gueorgui Pinkhassov moved from Moscow to Paris and in 1988 became the only Russian member of the famous photo agency Magnum. He owns the cover of the New York Times magazine issue of year 1991 and since 1998 he has released four photo books – the most famous one being Sightwalk published by the prestigious publishing house Phaidon.
His chronicle style has developed since then; however, Pinkhassov remains loyal to his principles: he is capturing the transient thus reflecting the eternal. Being a member of the world’s most prestigious photographer club, Pinkhassov is paradoxically indifferent to exhibitions, albums and regalia. He is interested only in impression of a person looking at a photo by him, he is also interested into shimmering lights and moving shadows.
His only solo-show in Estonia so far took place in 1979.
The exhibition is brought to you by Still Sparkling – a platform for gastronomic experiments and is in a frame event of the Sauce forum 2017
*The book Still Sparkling. Gastronomic Journey to the Baltics is not a ranking but a review of the situation with the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian gastronomy enriched with the glossary of the basic ingredients, technologies and tastes characteristic for the Baltic States.