Random Excellence: Gueorgui Pinkhassov

By Gueorgui Pinkhassov

All things considered, Magnum photographers are probably the once and future "élite of street."

From a large set here. And here he is on Magnum Photos.

Mike
(Thanks to robert e)

Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
A book of interest today:

There's a short video overview of the book here.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Troels: "He is also to be found on Instagram."

Mike replies: Some of those shots on Instagram are amazing. It can be almost discouraging to encounter someone so talented....

Elisabeth Spector: "The content of Pinkhassov's images is as compelling as any I've seen, but it is his use of color that has me holding my breath as I look at each successive image. His use of red, the way it drives the energy of his compositions and punctuates the details, reminds me of music somehow—notes across a page that tie all of his work together into a larger piece of art. His use of blues and greens is a little more subtle, but no less delicious. I swear I got goosebumbs when I started to see all of those colors pop out of his images—uncannily like Fred Herzog, my favorite color photographer—but certainly not derivative in any way. His story-telling and use of framing,light, layers, etc. would make these great photos in B&W, but it is his use of color that really puts the images in another league (for me, anyway). I generally dislike street photography in color, and I just realized why: most such images don’t seem to use color to create a better or more interesting image. In fact, color seems often to be used when the tonalities just don’t work well enough in black and white. But with Pinkhassov and Herzog, color is at least an equal player, used just as deliberately as all of the other components and creating a full orchestral effect (way beyond the effect of just a strong solo or quartet), if I can keep using that analogy. What a treat…thank you for this post.  Now I know where to get my fix when I don’t have my Herzog (Vancouver Photographs) handy to pore over."

Mike replies: I know exactly what you mean Elisabeth. Many "photographers in color" (as opposed to color photographers) don't seem to realize that every color photograph is about color, and if the color doesn't work then the photograph doesn't work. It really is like a different, co-equal problem, as if you do have to layer one artwork over another. It's enormously difficult to get it right, and uncommon to find photographers who get it right. It's definitely the outstanding thing about Herzog.

Dave: "Thanks a lot—these photos put me in a day-long depression. This guy is so good that I might just throw away my camera and give up. From now on, when you post 'Random Exellence' make sure it's a style of photography most of us could at least try to copy. These photos are just too good."

Comments

[David Paterson]

He has an interesting eye but the image you show is way the stand-out of all those I looked at. He likes the colour red quite a lot.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

"All things considered, Magnum photographers are probably the once and future "élite of street." "

It's hard to question that claim. Many of Pinkhassov's images, like those of several of his peers, are excellent examples of characteristics that distinguish those with accomplished skills and talented mind/eye circuits. In partial answer to Gordon's invitation to discussion in an earlier thread, in my opinion the characteristics of the strongest "street photography", whether color or b&w, are:
- gesture and timing,
- multiple visual layers,
- hierarchical frame organization, and
- it prompts more questions than it answers.

Look through Pinkhassov's set with this list in mind and I think you'll see what I mean. Then look through some of Alex Webb's work,
Constantine Manos's work, etc. You may not want to spend much time back at that Flickr group after such a tour.

You're only as good as what you see,

[Marek Fogiel]

Thanks for picking this photographer out. He is as good, if not better, in colour, as he is (was?) in B&W. This should be compulsory reading (looking) for colour street afficionados.

[Bill Mitchell]

You gotta be kidding!

[About what? --Mike]

[Michael Stevens]

Wow. Consider my gob well and truly smacked!

[Patrick Dodds]

Dear lord but those are fantastic. The cockerel / chicken shot - FTW!
You are on a roll at the moment Mike - just about everything on here recently has been a Must Read post - thank you for all of it.

[Walter Glover]

Well, that certainly takes Street to a different level.

[Terence Hogben]

Really excellent work.

[robert e]

Full credit: I learned of Pinkhassov when I read novelist Teju Cole rhapsodize about Pinkhassov's Instagram feed (yes, he has an Instagram feed, apparently of his iPhone work).

Cole (a propos some of TOP's preoccupations), mused about art photography in the era of social media and the deluge of new images, and mentioned Pinkhassov's preference for modest gear (primarily a crop-sensor Canon DSLR, though he has recently plugged for Fuji's XE1, praising the "softness" of it's images).

Cole's blog at The New Inquiry magazine is called "Double Take", and is about the visual arts: http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/dtake/

A quote:

"it’s no bad thing that everyone is now a photographer... Nevertheless, in looking at a great photographic image from the past or the present, we know when blood is drawn. We know that some images, regardless of medium, still have the power to suddenly enliven us. And we know that these images are few."

[Rowan]

That book of interest, Sightwalk, is definitely worth a look. Very nicely put together, and some wonderful images, once you get past the slightly unusual cover material!

[Robert Stahl]

These photographs breath and fairly pulsate with life. His compelling
use of color, light and shadow, and choreography of moments all add
up to an array of work that is special, indeed. Bresson would be proud of the effective use of geometry in this man's imagery. Thank you, Mike, for sharing the unique artistry of Gueorgui Pinkhassov!

[Steve Jacob]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for exposing another contemporary genius. We sometimes think anything that was good was done up to the 1960's but it's demonstrably not so. Some are moving the game on, but they really don't get enough "exposure" in the gallery market.

Two interesting observations - first, like Nuri Bilge Ceylan, he learned cinematography first which shows in the dramatic lighting, composition and tension in each shot and - second, he combines colour AND tonality to create real depth and dimensionality that is normally the province of the B&W print.

It's humbling but also very inspiring to see how things have indeed moved on. The comparison with "democratic" submissions on sharing sites could not be more stark.

I think such discoveries should convince anyone that photography is still very much alive and well, and there are contemporary photographers, a handful, that are every bit as original and evolved as their illustrious forebears. But then there always were only a handful...

So thanks again, and more please. This is like soul food!

[Bear.]

Love his abstraction of form and colour.

[Phillip E]

Stunning photographs. It was interesting to note in his Magnum biography that he impressed the great Russian film maker Tarkovsky, whose films are among the greatest ever made in my opinion. Stalker, the film Tarkovsky invited Pinkhassov to document is especially stunning visually. Tarkovsky was a still photographers' film maker if ever there were one.

[Alex A. Naanou]

And to really appreciate the man you should meet him in person, he's as fun to talk talk to as it is fun to look at his photographs... ;-)

[Andy Kochanowski]

Lest there be any confusion, from my point of view the Pinkhassov photos are fantastic, jealousy-inducing, and probably as good as it gets in the genre. They also use the same tropes and conventions that have been around for a while now-- horizontal frames, careful placements of the bodies, perpective shift front to back, backgrounds playing off foregrounds, deep shadows with a single light source, and so on. Pinkhassov just does it better than most anyone.

Thanks for showing him to your readers, Mike. How about you start a This is How It's Done series.

[Paul Amyes]

Well that made me want to hang up my cameras.

[Dan]

Nobody should be allowed to have taken that many superb images in a lifetime

[Robin Dreyer]

Wow, that guy is unbelievable. What an inspiration. I especially love the way he's able to place people in parts of the frame where you aren't quite expecting them. That out-of-focus couple kissing--shot through two layers of train doors!

[G]

Wow. Wow. Thanks.

G

[Rod Graham]

I definitely need to be paying more attention to that "layered" look. Need to study more Sam Abell too.

[robert quiet photographer]

Thanks for introducing this great photographer! I'm afraid I'll have to spend a few nights going through all his photos, trying to learn something...
robert

[Stephen F Faust]

Wow, great photos. I just discovered Saul Leiter, and I can see a lot of Leiter's influence in Pinkhassov's work, especially the color photos on Pinkhassov's blog.

Color photography--especially color street photography--is so difficult to do well, but both Leiter and Pinkhassov have mastered it.

[expiring_frog]

Unbelievable. Thank you.

[Paul]

Pinkhassov video link talking about the Fuji Xe1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=695S7EUhVME

[MJFerron]

After reading Elisabeth's featured comment and impressive critique I realize that even after 12+ years of serious, amateur photographic efforts I still have a long way to go in furthering my appreciation and understanding when it comes to photography. After all that time one can still feel like a newbie!

[Taran]

I consider being a random excellence photographer along with this guy as the greatest accomplishment in my life (rofl-hahahahhahah). I really don't care about any other awards, for me, this is the mountain.

The genius of this guy simply cannot be overstated, it's depressing (I mean that in the best way). I feel like a donkey. :)