Francesco Merlini, Samuele Pellecchia, Igor Posner and Devin Yalkin, four black&white photographers whose diaristic approach to photography has been recognized worldwide with exhibitions and publications.
Four intimacies blended into a collective reflection that aims at using the visual result of their photographic quest in order to deeply explore the process and the meaning of using photography to transform reality into a very personal account of existence that at the same time becomes voice of a collective memory.
The camera can act as magnifier becoming a cognitive filter for personal identities. This method of intimate discovery assigns new notions to human and inanimate subjects, placing it in a new mental and physical space, drastically close and at the same time unexpectedly distant.
These photographs taken in four continents suggest that physical and emotional gaps can be blurred by the gaze of those ones who look for themselves in the eyes of the strangers encountered during their path.
In a time where the boundaries between the documentary narration of stories and the personal representation are more and more subtle, what does it mean to be a diaristic photographer?
Obsessions, memories, recollections and fears, an huge stream of consciousness that shove the audience into a dark galaxy of images sprinkled with bright fragments of vicious emotions and charming honesty.
The exhibition curated by Prospekt, part of the Kolga Tbilisi Photo festival 2017, will display more then 120 prints at the museum Karvasla (museum of the history of Tbilisi). It will open on May 7th 2017 [ Project Manager: Mariam Grigalashvili ]
ABOUT DEVIN YALKIN
Devin Yalkin (b. 1981), native and resident of NYC, is a black & white photographer who received his BFA in Photography at the School of Visual Arts. Yalkin was included in Istanbul MoMA’s exhibition, Close Quarters, with two works now in the permanent collection (2013). Yalkin is represented by Stieglitz 19 gallery in Antwerp, Belgium, and Prospekt Agency in Milan, Italy. Some of his clients include NYTimes Magazine, Time, Vice and Rolling Stone. In September of 2016, Yalkin’s first Monograph was released through Sun Editions and is titled “I’ll See You Tomorrow, Until I Can’t.”
ABOUT FRANCESCO MERLINI
Francesco was born in Aosta in 1986. After a bachelor’s degree in industrial design at the Politecnico University of Milan, he has devoted myself completely to photography.
After covering Italian news, now he works mainly on personal long-term projects, corporate works and editorials.
In 2012, his photographs have been published on the book Mono vol. One alongside renowned photographers such as Roger Ballen, Daido Moryiama, Anders Petersen and Antoine D’agata. In 2015 Francesco has won the Conscientious Photography Portfolio Competition with his long-term project “Farang “and later he has been selected by the British Journal of Photography in order to be part of The Talent Issue: Ones to Watch 2016.
His photographs have been published on international magazines and sites including: The Washington Post, Time Lightbox, Gup Magazine, Financial Times, Le Monde, L’Espresso, Wired, Gq, Die Welt, Internazionale, La Stampa and D La Repubblica. His work has been exhibited as part of collective exhibitions all over Europe and in January 2017 he has inaugurated his first solo show at Le 247 Galerie in Paris.
Since 2012 Francesco is represented by the international agency Prospekt.
About Igor Posner
Born in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). Igor Posner moved to California in the early 90s. He studied molecular and cell biology at the University of California Los Angeles, where he first started to take pictures and experiment in the darkroom. Initial infatuation with picture taking led Igor to explore the silent and haunting experience of walking after dark on the streets of Los Angeles and Tijuana. Collision of social and typical with personal and psychological, this first series of images “Nonesuch Records” savors the strange solitude of the enigmatic region between California and Mexico; amid the streets, bars, night shelter hotels, and disappearing night figures. After 14 years, Igor returned to St. Petersburg in 2006, taking up photography full time, which led to a book project Past Perfect Continuous, published by Red Hook Editions, 2017.
At present, Igor is based in New York and working on a long-term project, entitled Cargo, exploring psychological aspects of migration and gradual disappearance of neighborhoods based on Russian immigrant communities in North America. Igor’s work was shown in North America, Europe, Russia, and South East Asia. He joined Prospekt agency in 2011.
ABOUT SAMUELE PELLECCHIA
Samuele Pellecchia after his studies in philosophy, he began working as a photojournalist and in 2004 he founded Prospect. He covered stories all around the world. In 2006 he was among the authors of the project “Water Corp. Human Right or Commodity”, in collaboration with Amnesty International. In 2007 he was one of the photographers assigned for the book “Let the Children Play” by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
In 2009 he was producer and author of the webdoc “The Iron Curtain Diaries”, shortlisted at the first edition of the France 24-RFI Web Documentary Award in Visa pour l’Image 2009, at the Festival Des Quatres Ecrans in Paris, and at IDFA in Amsterdam.
In 2006 and 2009 he won the first prize of the Enzo Baldoni Journalistic Award. His pictures have been published, among the others, on GQ, Vanity Fair, the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Russian Reporter, D Repubblica delle Donne, l’Espresso, Private. His work has been exhibited in several italian exhibitions and his long term project “Close To Me” was at Rencontres d’Arles, La Nuit de l’Année, 2011. In the 2008 he started to work also with video as author, director and producer.
About Kolga Tbilisi Photo
The country of remarkable history and culture. Its special geographical location justify the cultural identity that distinguish Georgia from other countries.The Georgian culture evolved with the country’s history, giving it a rich set of traditions with a touch of influence from foreign invaders and minorities. Over the last few years Georgia and its’ capital Tbilisi has become a cultural center in the region.Cultural life here is rich and varied: in the city are always held interesting festivals, cultural events, theater performances, and concerts. This is the place where you can spend an unforgettable time and to plunge into the cultural life of Tbilisi with some Georgian flavor.
One of the main events in countries cultural life is Kolga Tbilisi Photo week. It has been 16 years that well-known Photo Week in Georgia – Kolga Tbilisi Photo has taken effective steps towards its establishment into international dimension. During recent years one of the segments of the Photo Week – Kolga Tbilisi Photo contest motivated participants from all over the world to submit photographic series. More than 5500 submissions for the Kolga Award from more than 21 countries had arrived at the Kolga Tbilisi Photo office. It facilitated to the huge interest and involvement of international photographers. As a result, the contest has already gained popularity among certain circles of photographers. Thanks to its standards and variety, Kolga Tbilisi Photo has already established as the international festival.
Tbilisi History Museum
May 7, 2017
Karvasla/ 8Str Sioni
Tbilisi / Georgia
