INFRASTRUCTURES
Infrastructures is a research-based
photo project about the
Russian and post-Soviet political economy, created in 2016-2019 by
Sergey Novikov and Max Sher. Combining documentary and staged
photography, as well as writing, they look at and reflect on both
the political and cultural
significance of physical infrastructures such as roads, bridges,
pipelines, etc., and 'infrastructures' of thinking and discourse
that historically underpin the functioning of the State and power.
The artists thus take on the role of culture critics to call into
question the oft-simplistic but still dominating visual and
conceptual tropes about the post-Soviet area. The book consists of
50 chapters, each with photographs and an essay in English and
Russian. By combining photographs and writing, Novikov and Sher
also explore the complex relationship and roles of photography and
text within one body of work.
The book was published
by recurrentBooks in September 2019.
