Alni Stalke : ‘[Ex]Pride’ Series (Photography)

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‘[Ex]Pride’ Series
archival ink prints
50cm x 50cm
2004-08
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Industry in Soviet times was one of supreme pride and supporting points of Soviet ideology. After the nineties, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the great part of factories underwent difficult economical crisis because of various reasons. Raw materials of goods and prime cost of energy rapidly increased though society’s purchasing ability remained the same as well as manufactured production in its quality dropped behind imported goods from western countries. Even now, years after, the larger half of corps of old factories are sold and used as warehouses, or they just remain empty and vandalized.

The theme ‘Pride’ in my essay of photographs is interpreted as [Ex] Pride, having a look in interiors of factories and carrying a subjective visual research about former pride. As the essence in my photographs I have used inner environment of factories what even now doesn’t seem to be lifeless and goes on with its inner quiet life. …Noise of dropping water, wind in broken windows, old posters and documents, books from soviet times, personal belongings of workers…

I didn’t look for anything specific. I put my focus more on symbolic and broadly interpreted things and compositions what would be possible to understand with wide comprehension and in multi-levels. From my childhood I remember times when sirens in mornings and evenings announced beginning and end of a working day, and I remember times when suddenly closed territories of factories became approachable to anybody.

A great part of my youth passed in these forsaken corps and it was one of the main subjective motives why I choose this exact visual interpretation for the concept ‘pride’. Nowadays people who come here are very different. These are children and teenagers who come here to play, or have fun vandalizing. There are also people who try to find something useful for household or selling. – [Extract : [Ex]Pride]

Alni Stalke : Website

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