Alexandr Babarikin: Images or mirage…
Originally from Belarus, photographer Aleksandr Babarikin now lives in New York.
While working as an engineer, it was in April 2020 that he bought his very first camera. As he likes to say, there’s no rational reason why he took up photography except that he already liked shooting with his phone and wanted to express himself differently.
Inspired by Impressionism, Aleksandr Babarikin incorporates color, light and texture into his images to evoke particular atmospheres. Degas and Manet had a real impact on his artistic approach to photography. For their part, renowned photographers such as Ernst Haas, Saul Leiter and Jack Davison helped him to understand photography as an art form.
His nebulous images are irresistibly dreamlike and allow viewers to immerse themselves in them and make their own interpretations and imagine their own universe. Everything is blurred and confused, the result is all the more poetic. Alexander has a taste for paradox and abstraction. His nuanced aesthetic is particular, allowing him to see things as they appear to him. He deals with the vague, the unstable and the elusive to better question our relationship with others and with what surrounds us.
If his work is generally intuitive and spontaneous, he can also wait for hours to achieve the unexpected and capture candid and evocative moments.
On the one hand, we find something from the past with a touch of nostalgia, on the other, something more fantastic and futuristic. For him what is inside is found outside, his work could therefore be a great reflection on himself which he expresses through photography.
Instagram : wrapped.nil
Your first photographic trigger ?
Alexandr Babarikin : The desire to possess the moment.
The man or woman of image who inspires you?
Alexandr Babarikin : Saul Leiter.
The image you would have liked to take?
Alexandr Babarikin : I don’t have one at the moment, but I always strive to reproduce painting in photography, so I would like to take picturesque photographs of natural landscapes.
The one that moved you the most?
Alexandr Babarikin : It will be Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting “Landscape. Steppe, 1890-1895”.
© Arkhip Kuindzhi
And the one that made you angry?
Alexandr Babarikin : There is no such.
A key image in your personal pantheon?
Alexandr Babarikin : That one…
© Alexandr Babarikin
A photographic memory from your childhood?
Alexandr Babarikin : I was about 4 years old, sand dunes of the Baltic Sea on the Curonian Spit, endless milky beach and giant waves.
According to you, what is the necessary quality to be a good photographer?
Alexandr Babarikin : Quality of loving solitude.
The secret of the perfect image, if it exists?
Alexandr Babarikin : I think that everything worked out when it more or less corresponded to Art Deco forms: symmetrical, geometric, streamlined, often simple and pleasing to the eye.
The person you would like to photograph?
Alexandr Babarikin : My sister.
An indispensable photo book?
Alexandr Babarikin : Any of Saul Leiter’s books.
The camera of your childhood?
Alexandr Babarikin : my eyes 🙂 I didn’t have one.
The one you use today?
Alexandr Babarikin : Fujifilm x100v.
How would you describe your creative process?
Alexandr Babarikin : Endless search.
An upcoming project that’s close to your heart?
Alexandr Babarikin : I don’t really do projects, everything Is pretty spontaneous, photography is about finding something well hidden, so my upcoming project is about revealing the well hidden.
Your favorite drug?
Alexandr Babarikin : Sugar 🙂 I’m obsessed with French pastries.
The best way to disconnect for you ?
Alexandr Babarikin : Find myself in the middle of the meadows.
What is your relationship with the image ?
Alexandr Babarikin : Uncertainty. I like to take an abstract approach to take photographs, there is no certainty in them, we look at the image and are not sure what is shown and why it was taken, it kind of allows you to experience and see something of your own in it.
How would you describe your personality?
Alexandr Babarikin : I believe that my photography can better answer this question for me.
Your latest folly?
Alexandr Babarikin : I can’t remember a single folly, I’m starting to find myself so boring hah.
An image to illustrate a new banknote?
Alexandr Babarikin : This one…
© Alexandr Babarikin
The job you would not have liked to do ?
Alexandr Babarikin : The one that limit you to boundaries that contradict your inner creativity.
Your greatest professional extravagance?
Alexandr Babarikin : I don’t think I have one, I do photography as a hobby, so no extravagance.
What question gets you off track?
Alexandr Babarikin : “A last word ?“ 🙂
The city, the country or the culture you would love to discover ?
Alexandr Babarikin : I’ve never been to Asia, so Asia, there is always something mysterious about it. I would love to visit Inner Mongolia in China and Vietnamese tea areas.
The place you never get tired of ?
Alexandr Babarikin : Endless meadows and steppes.
Your biggest regret ?
Alexandr Babarikin : none.
In terms of social networks, are you more into Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok or Snapchat and why?
Alexandr Babarikin : Instagram, I don’t think there is a better platform for photographers than IG.
Color or B&W?
Alexandr Babarikin : Color.
Daylight or artificial light?
Alexandr Babarikin : Daylight.
Which city do you think is the most photogenic?
Alexandr Babarikin : The one we are in now.
If God existed would you ask him to pose for you, or would you opt for a selfie with him?
Alexandr Babarikin : I wouldn’t want to violate the personal boundaries of God, so only if he asked.
If I could organize your ideal dinner party, who would be at the table?
Alexandr Babarikin : Closest friends.
The image that represents for you the current state of the world?
Alexandr Babarikin : I would choose the following one.
© Alexandr Babarikin
What is missing in today’s world?
Alexandr Babarikin : Compassion.
If you had to start all over again?
Alexandr Babarikin : I wouldn’t change a thing, no regrets.
What do you like people to say about you?
Alexandr Babarikin : That I inspire them.
The one thing we absolutely must know about you?
Alexandr Babarikin : I’m pretty shy.
