Selection of the Target

I might call the series Selection of the Target my first meaningful photo work. It depicted a group of non-conformist artists, participants of an unofficial exhibition at Leonid Sokov’s studio in the summer of 1976. We decided to take the group photo in the backyard of Sokov’s studio on Sukharevsky Lane. We chose a bit of wasteland surrounded by low brick buildings; I took the photos with a heavy 6×6 cm camera mounted on a tripod, with long shutter speeds, and the artists had to freeze at the moment when the shutter was released.

Although the place seemed deserted at first, a minute after we started, there was hissing, shouting, and other threatening noises coming from everywhere. This is how the locals reacted when they peered out of their windows at what was happening in the wasteland. It was only natural that one or other of the artists would respond in some way to these displays of social vigilance. As a result, of the 13 shots I made, only one was uncompromised; the rest were all blurred to varying degrees, to my initial great annoyance.

However, after examining the prints I gradually concluded that this defective photography creates another space in the images, one that fundamentally changes the whole meaning of the action.

I decided to enhance this spontaneous effect by photographing some dice, whose number and position corresponded to the number and motions of the artists.

In doing so, I introduced the factor of time into the image, arguably much like the shift (sdvig) of cubist painting.

Igor Makarevich