Market Friday: Exhibition of black and white photography

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Greetings, friends! Last week I went on a guided tour of the underground, and this time I decided to visit a photography exhibition. I would probably not be wrong to say that the best photo exhibitions in our city take place in the museum and exhibition hall Rosfoto. This exhibition space is located on one of the main streets of the city in a house built in the early 20th century for an insurance company. It is a very beautiful art nouveau building with rich interiors, some of which have been preserved to this day. The exhibition centre occupies only part of the building; other rooms are occupied by other tenants. A ticket to the exhibitions costs 200 rubles, which is about $2.5.

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Some of Rosfoto's exhibition halls are located in the front part of the building and are accessed via the main staircase. The other halls are located in the courtyard building. This time I decided to visit the exhibition which takes place in the courtyard building. The interior of this showroom is very simple and austere, and it suits the exhibition of the St. Petersburg photographer Ilya Narovlyansky very well. The pompous halls of the main building might divert the visitor's attention from the mysterious romantic atmosphere of these photographs.

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Ilya Narovlyansky is one of my favourite St Petersburg photographers. He was born in 1921. The heyday of his photography was the 1950s and 1960s. Cityscapes are the inexhaustible source of inspiration for Ilya Narovlyansky. His photos are like poems, like music - they are light and lovely.

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I saw Ilya Narovlyansky's photographs for the first time when I was a child. My parents subscribed to Soviet Photo magazine, and they kept a stack of those magazines in the bookcase. I don't remember whether I decided to look at the pictures myself or whether my parents handed me the magazines in the hope of finding a quiet and peaceful activity for an active child. I flipped through the pages of the magazine and suddenly froze in delight: the whole spread was occupied by a panorama of the Neva River, with people in a wooden oarside boat in the foreground. It was simultaneously very solemn and very simple.

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Photographs of Leningrad (St. Petersburg was then called Leningrad) are the main theme of the exhibition. Besides a small number of photos of other subjects were on display. Ilya Narovlyansky worked as a photojournalist for different editions and worked a lot on his editorial assignments. Also several showcases were occupied by magazines and postcards. Ilya Narovlyansky cooperated with the Leningrad Art Gallery. His postcards with city views were published in large numbers.

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After visiting the exhibition, I decided to take a short walk around the neighbourhood courtyards. I was so deeply immersed in the world on the other side of the old black and white film that I could not immediately return to the present. I needed a little pause between the two eras.

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SmartphoneGoogle Pixel 3a
LocationSaint Petersburg, Russia

This is my entry for the #marketfriday challenge by @dswigle.



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9 comments
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My parents subscribed to Soviet Photo magazine, and they kept a stack of those magazines in the bookcase.

You reminded me that mine have a Sputnik collection and I need to see where they have it stored.

Very interesting exhibit and I'm getting used to the fact that on Fridays your walks are a bit subway. At least we have a staircase going down at the beginning....

Greetings

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I'm going to continue walking around the metro stations. Some of the stations are very interesting, it makes me want to pause on my journey and look around carefully.

Thank you very much! Have a great weekend!

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You are very accurate in your description. Anything I have ever read about Rosfoto Museum and Exhibition Hall places it as the effective center for photography in St. Petersburg. That is a pretty impressive write-up, and yet, it says that anywhere I Have looked.

You have a penchant for showing us unique spaces or places that made an impact in one or another on Russian society. I can see where the back halls would make a better presentation to the softer side of Leningrad. Sidenote: I can remember when they wanted to abandon the name Leningrad and revert back to the "Sankt-Peterburg," a Dutch-influenced name, I thought it was a conflict of its direction or its soul. I wondered what it was like to change the name of a large city, a major feat, no? so much history in your city!

I have to wonder what it would have been like as a child to watch all these changes.

I actually like very simple displays like this. It allows me to focus on the photograph on hand, letting none of the backgrounds interfere. I understand getting lost in it and savoring the feelings.

Always a wonderful wonder with you. The best $2.50 spend today! Thank you!

#MarketFriday began as a way to reach out across the globe and learn about different cultures through their markets, especially local markets and farmers' markets, and eventually branched out and evolved over time from straight shopping to a cultural affair as it highlights how we differ and then again, how much we are alike. We have become a melting pot of culture, but it is still the Rituals, Festivals, food, architecture, and even your language/languages that separate us... Along with the fact that these things are normal for us. There are unwritten rules that rule our social behaviors. I see this as allowing for increased tolerance between cultures and nations, and opportunities to come together on an even playing ground. A strong culture can be beneficial to a country as it promotes unity, especially during a crisis, peaceful debate, and open dialogue. I have learned so much about all of you and it has been an amazing experience. I can only hope that learning about each other can help us work together for a peaceful world. Thank you for being a part of #MarketFriday

Rules of the Road to Join #MarketFriday!


  1. Go to any type of market, or anywhere where you pay money for a service. It can be a museum, a movie theatre, or an auction. Be creative!
  2. Tell us a little bit about the market or the event. What brought you there? What did you buy? How much did it cost? We like to compare prices, otherwise, it is just pictures of a market!
  3. Post the pictures! No out-of-focus ones, please! Tell a little bit about the pictures that you post. Having many pictures to scroll through does not make a better post without explanation.
  4. Use the MarketFriday Community Platform to post #hive-196308 (this is not required, but appreciated) If you don't, then #MarketFriday should be your first tag
  5. Following me and reblogging the post so more see it would be appreciated !! Not a rule, just appreciated, more vision for more views on your posts!
    . You must put #MarketFriday by @dswigle somewhere on your post.
    6.#MarketFriday post should be submitted sometime on Friday UTC
  6. The post MUST be in English
  7. Drop the link into the MarketFriday comment section so I can find it


#MarketFriday loves you!

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I remember changing the name of the city. It was the very beginning of autumn, we were living at the dacha. We used to gather around the radio in the evenings to listen to the weather forecast. The radio announcers were well-educated people with a perfect voice, but for a few days they could hardly pronounce the new name of the city.

But there is a nuance here, in the Soviet period both names of the city existed in parallel. People often used to say 'Petersburg' or abbreviated 'Piter'. Therefore, the official return of the historic name seemed understandable and correct.

Thank you so much!

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Yes! I read that everyone (or many people) still called it Piter/Peter anyway. I found that funny that it never really changed, despite everything.

All is well that ends well.

Thank you, always.

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