“They are not just ‘social photographs,’ as many people see them, they are my personal encounters and scenes. Every added picture is another chapter of my own history. And when I am asked why I go after ‘life’s unpleasant side,’ I reply, ‘because I am a part of it.’” – Dmitry Markov, 2017
agnès b. presents #DRAFT #RUSSIA, a new exhibition of 80 works by Russian photographer Dmitry Markov, curated especially for the agnès b. Galerie Boutique in SoHo, New York. His unflinching documentation of daily life in the Russian province of Pskov on the outskirts of urbanity weaves a narrative of human vulnerability, addiction, candor, and pathos.
Photography came late in Dmitry Markov’s life, but since he became a photographer, a daily photographer, a landmark of all his life’s “ups and downs.” He is honest enough to share with us his contradictions and weaknesses. He stares at the world, trying to find his own place and by the strength of his images he succeeds to takes us on board his story.
The people he takes pictures of instantly become part of his own story. He looks at them as he looks at himself, with no condescension and no moral judgement. He is documenting his life and sharing on Instagram all his pictures taken with his smartphone. Only a lonely man can, with his fascinating day-by-day pictures posted on Instagram, create such a long-term self-portrait, searching for himself through the presence of the others.
“I was deeply moved by Dmitry Markov’s work that I saw at the Rencontres d’Arles, so I decided to show his photographs at Paris Photo in 2018 at our stand devoted to Russia. Today it is an honor to exhibit his work at my dear Galerie Boutique on Howard Street in New York, a city I adore for its beauty and the diversity of its population, which makes it such a creative place! For me, Dmitry’s work is in line with great artists such as Nan Goldin, Ryan McGinley, and Richard Billingham, all their works is very much about their own everyday personal life, their friends, the world that surrounds them…
I was the first to present Nan Goldin’s photos in Paris as early as 1992 (black & white and color) and then I showed her work at the Galerie du Jour. This was when she first did a slide show in a cinema with her very moving comments.
In 2001 I met Ryan McGinley in New York at a crazy party downtown. He pulled out little photos from his jeans pocket and I was so struck by his talent that I decided to show them in large format at our Los Angeles boutique on North Robertson Blvd. These artists have in common to have seen the human beauty and passion in what is sometimes dramatic and rough… and this is what makes their work so beautiful and strong!” – agnès b.
About Dmitry Markov
Dmitry Markov (b. 1982 in Pushkin, Russia) is a photographer, social worker, volunteer and journalist. He takes photos using only an iPhone and shares them on his Instagram page to his more than 346,000 followers. Markov studied at the Faculty of Philology in Moscow and actively wrote for youth magazines and newspapers on a voluntary and part-time basis.
He left university after three years to be a full-time reporter and later worked for the Russian weekly newspaper Argumenty i Facty where most of his articles were devoted to social issues and youth problems. His first book, DRAFT, published in 2018 by Treemedia, documents the true lives of ordinary people from the Russian province.
Dmitry Markov was the recipient of the Grand Prix Silver Camera Award (2006), the PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Award (2009), Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism Award (2010), PHE OjodePez Award for Human Values (2011), and the Catchlight Activist Award (2014).
In 2015, Dmitry Markov was awarded the Getty Images Instagram Grant and his photographs were exhibited in the Photoville Festival in New York. In 2018, his photographs were exhibited at the Manuel Rivera Ortiz Foundation during the Arles International Photography Festival and at Paris Photo with Galerie du Jour agnès b.
About agnès b.
agnès b. is a privately owned, family-operated French company, founded in 1975 that includes 282 stores worldwide, the Galerie du Jour agnès b. in Paris, and agnès b. Galerie Boutiques in Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Marseille. agnès b. publishes the hybrid art periodical Point d’Ironie five times a year, giving each artist carte blanche to animate eight blank pages as they wish.
The agnès b. company recently celebrated 40 years with the publication of agnès b. STYLISTE, a 288-page cloth-bound book that offers a unique look at the agnès b. universe. agnès b. sits on the Advisory Board for the upcoming Beyond the Streets street art exhibition opening May 2019 in New York.
Dmitry Markov: #DRAFT #RUSSIA
April 6 – June 4, 2019
agnès b. Galerie Boutique
50 Howard Street, New York, NY 10013
