Urbanautica

DARIA NAZAROVA. CONNECTED TO ME

by Steve Bisson

« These are the times of overcoming restrictions, striving for freedom, longing to live better and look better, to declare ourselves».

One of the photographers I discovered thanks to a recent publication 'Sacred. The Experience of Beyond' is the Russian photographer Daria Nazarova. Her project 'The Spider's House' shed light on her family story, and that of her grandfather Alexei Nikolayevich Potekhin, a church official preacher who had been executed to death, 4 days after been arrested in 1938, during the "troika". We can't cope with it, not even today, and maybe never tomorrow. The persecution of people according to their beliefs is a recurring theme in the history of us, humans. There she found more memories than anything else. She reminds of the grandmother (the daughter of Alexy) «When I was a child, and my grandmother was an elderly woman, she was constantly drawn to the same place - Nikola Ez. We went there several times with her and our relatives. All that remained there was a dilapidated temple, where my great-grandfather had served, and a cemetery nearby. At the place where once was a pier, below the Volga, there was a barge moored to the shore. She wandered around the church, remembered, and probably saw something we would never be able to reach.» It is difficult to accept the reasons behind these events, however, we can try to mend these tears within us. And that's what Daria did, rebuilding this family fabric, returning to the places of suffering, this small village, Nicola Ez. There she found more memories than anything else, memories to be woven together like a spider's web. Who are we, where do we come from? Why history is important. Can it help us to face the present differently?

© Daria Nazarova from the series 'The Spider's House'

The theme of memory is strong, decisive in several of Daria's photographic works. So she writes in another project "The Time of Water", which tells the hardships experienced by entire communities forced to abound their places which would have been canceled from the Rybinsk reservoir.

I was drawn to these places, to find people who would tell about the flooding. Articles from the books were not enough, I needed live witnesses, those, who kept the stories of their relatives. I needed photos, documents, letters, evidence. It is impossible to remain indifferent now, as it is impossible to change what happened. For a long time, there was a ban on Mologa’s topic and people were afraid to share information. Even when it became possible, most remained silent. Soon there will be no one left to tell us about these events.

© Daria Nazarova from the series 'The Time of Water'

Between the years 1937 and 1941, about 700 villages were flooded, more than 50 churches, 3 monasteries, noble estates were destroyed. The city of Mologa was submerged. The consequences for thousands of families were dramatic. Daria collects with her composed and posed portraits, the dignity, the elegance of the faces. Somehow she manifests again the desire to stitch a wound. I believe the merit of these works lies in this form of cultural resilience, in rejecting indifference, and in reaffirming that need for identity that is often overshadowed by apparently higher and more important values. The familiar facts recalled by Daria refer to an atrocious period of terror in the Soviet Union, of arbitrary executions, of cleansing operations, of torture, surveillance, and suppressions. The narration fits into this climate although there is no evidence of guilt or prejudice, rather there is a desire for reconciliation.

© Daria Nazarova from the series 'The Time of Water'

Daria Nazarova was born in Vologda, Russia, and she spent most of her life in Ivanovo, while now currently living in St. Petersburg.
Photography all started with her past boyfriend who used to shoot with her dad's old film camera. He was taking pictures of her and the places where they spent time together. She was also using the camera, not seriously - she said - just for shooting friends and beautiful surroundings. She then studied Restoration of Architectural Heritage in Ivanovo University. And after moving to St. Petersburg, she worked as a designer and at the same time studied photography at the photo school Fotografika.

Now, she is very clear about why using photography: «with photos I can share my ideas with other people connect with them and get answers to questions that bother me [...] All my stories are connected directly with me and my experience». Recently she has been working on a project called "Aloe". Again it's about her country yet through the history of the St. Petersburg community Aloe and the interaction with its members. What is exactly Aloe then? Daria explained to me that basically, it is a question of freedom, of showing what we have in common, a form of social aggregation that moves beyond packaged ideologies. A search for expression, colorful, joyful, magical that deviates from the ugliness and violence of society. «Through play, dance, bright outfits, installations and videos, collective actions, such simple-hard questions as “Who is normal?” Aloe tries to get everybody together and give voice to everyone.»

© Daria Nazarova from the series 'Aloe'

Compared to her previous works Daria with this series seems to question a perspective rather than a memory. In this sense, there is a different sense of participation in history, almost a desire to testify to the present. It's the post-soviet generation. People who didn't live in the USSR but «have some idea of it based on their parents’ stories, some items and photos of that time, Soviet music and movies. We are the generation of the 90s and 2000s, when we lived and grown. These are the times of overcoming restrictions, striving for freedom, longing to live better and look better, to declare ourselves». Daria is very clear in outlining the electrifying panorama that is measured daily with an ever-present past.

© Daria Nazarova from the series 'Aloe'

Perhaps this also prompted her to make a book about it. «I wanted to bring the person who gets to know the community through my photographs closer to what Aloe is and transform my thoughts into a more understandable form». Certainly, the book allows for a more intimate experience, a «slower process then immersion through the social networks». No compulsive scrolling but slow, deep and careful leafing. A book that comes, not by chance, with a lot of handcrafted elements. «In my childhood, there were many material things, for example, questionnaires for friends like the one in the Aloe book. We used to print photos and put them into albums. I still make albums for my loved ones. We used to decorate albums and questionnaires with stickers, different inserts, paint with them colored pens. It seemed to me interesting to use the same form for this story, to show it as a book in which one could feel this greeting from the past.»

© Daria Nazarova, "Aloe book", 2020

It was not an easy choice as it might seem. It took about year to Daria to finalize the right shape of this book. She started to work on it on the master-class of Kozuma Obara at Fotografika that lead to producing several dummies. «Everything was handmade [...] I was preparing text-blocks, gluing fabric to the frontispieces, putting sticks and inserting questionaries pages. I’m grateful to Katya Bogachevskaya and Fotografika publishing for supporting and publishing my project.» Well, it's always interesting to hear on the backstage of publications. «Book production is a complicated process so I’ve decided to print a limited edition but to do it my way». 100 copies indeed are the right short run for those photobook lovers and collectors!

I believe that all this craftsmanship also fully interprets the spirit of the Aloe community. Perhaps, as Daria suggests, the photos were not enough to describe the euphoric, kaleidoscopic and fairy atmosphere. "Aloe" is «about overcoming prejudices and stereotypes sometimes by exaggerating them to the point of absurdity.» We seem to enter a fairy tale journey, where the role of the photographer is to guide us on and off the stage. «To be just a photographer is not enough for me, I want to participate. I help Aloe guys with installations and design. I dance on the stage with them». I wonder about her role as a photographer again: «It is important for me to understand, how things are done: how the clothes are created, decorations, and any other Aloe’s project are made». It's not just about to shoot them, but how to tell their story and put it in the book.

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LINK

Daria Nazarova (website)
Aloe book

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The spider's house
Daria Nazarova