Photo competition reveals what Russians today see as "sacred and precious"
Moscow (AsiaNews) - A photography competition to understand what is "sacred and precious" in the lives of Russians today. This was the idea of independent Sreda research centre, which specializes in the sociology of religion. From April 4 to 14 the Russian Orthodox University is hosting an exhibition of some two thousand pictures submitted from all over the country throughout the year.
The jury that selected the works - by amateur and professional photographers - included names of famous experts in photography and religions in Russia. From RiaNovosti photojournalist, Sergei Pyatakov, the poetess Olga Sedakova, to the director of radio Kommersant FM, Konstantin von Eggert. The idea - the organizers explain - was to find a visual image that would summarize the category of sacred and precious in Russia.
"The response to the competition - said Alina Bagrina, project coordinator for Sreda - was surprisingly great." During 2012 more than 2,100 photos were submitted by more than 600 participants from all over the Federation and neighboring countries. The aim was to achieve a "photographic projection of the collective consciousness - added Bagrina, talking to Blagovest-info website- and this is why the winners were selected not on a purely photographic basis, but to the extent that they reflected the theme we launched. "
"The thing that surprised us - confessed the expert - is that almost half of the images are of human faces, captured in moments of everyday life". According to Bagrina this shows that there is a "huge desire for humanity" in society. In a time when the authorities promote a strong sense of patriotic values no-one, however, associated the idea of "sacred and precious" to institutional symbols, such as the national flag or government buildings. Even images related to material progress and success are virtually absent, for example expanding cities, physical beauty or luxury cars.
Although the initiative did not have an openly Orthodox connotation, 13% of the photos had churches and monasteries as their subject, while another 7% focused on orthodox functions. According to sociologists, older competitors preferred subjects related to faith. In general, men focused on religion, while women submitted photos of nature, everyday life and children.
The strongest trend was that of portraits of the elderly, with many faces of farmers, miners and war veterans to indicate a sense of loss, compassion and lost beauty. The jury decided to award the first prize to an "autumn portrait" of an old man alone among his vegetables.
Nature, children,
elders, provincial priests together with animals and ancient religious architecture.
A general framework that harks back to old values, but all projected into the
past, almost as if today the Russians cannot see new values, do not believe in
a future. "This is a troubling sign - said the journalist Von Eggert - the
fact that everyone feels rooted in the distant past, reveals the inability of
the Russians to cope with their recent history, that of the terrible twentieth
century, still lived like a wound in the historical consciousness of the
population. "
All photos of the contest can be found on the site http://sreda.org/photo/
(only in Russian).
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06/07/2005
