Alexander Borodulin

Retrospective. Part I

Alexander Borodulin, son of the eminent Soviet photographer Lev Borodulin, began taking photographs at the age of 14. On the streets of Moscow he sought subjects and situations that opposed official Soviet ideology, becoming as he himself admits'the photo dissident of the day'. Borodulin carried on taking pictures after he moved to the USA in 1974, gaining experience in American photography and access to the New York photographic establishment of the'70s. He was lucky and unlucky at the same time. Lucky that his father's friend and colleague Gerry Cook, the renowned sports photographer in charge of photography at 'Sports Illustrated' magazine, gave him an opportunity to prove himself as assistant, and after the first shoot offered Borodulin a post as fully-fledged photographer for'Time Life' publishing. The bad luck was that shortly afterwards both'Life' magazine and its rival'Look' closed: American photography was in crisis. Work dried up and even the best-known photographers found themselves out of a job.'Soon I got to know them all and many tried to help, any way they could. (-133;) Some supplied me with a lens, a camera or some film, others passed on contacts or even work, but most of them were only too happy to generously provide advice and experience that was vital for me at that time. To those photographers I was like an adopted son, and as far as I was concerned they were my idols, living geniuses from whom I was privileged to learn the art of photography.' Among them were John Leonard, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Arthur Rothstein, Howard Sochurek, Ernst Haas, Cornell Capa, Neil Leifer, Philippe Halsman and Gjon Mili. Despite the strong influence of American humanistic photography, which in a way reminded Borodulin of unthinking communist optimism, he now began a quest for his own approach and style, the results of which came together in 'Last Beach -151; Metaphysical Experiments in Photography'. This was a 'photographic exercise in death and the search for another side to ordinary everyday reality' (from an interview with'Zoom' magazine). In those days Borodulin photographed everything: war, sport, street scenes, fashion and nightlife. His New York studio became a meeting point for cult figures of that era -151; a daytime Russian literary salon visited by Eduard Limonov, Joseph Brodsky, Yuri Mamleev, Vagrich Bakhchanyan-133; In 1978 Borodulin's photographs appeared in an eight-page spread for American'Vogue'. It was then, too, that Borodulin met legendary photo model Gia Carangi. Their romance was'one of the most tragic, but also the most wonderful periods' in the photographer's life. Borodulin moved to France in 1980 and signed a contract with'France Soir' magazine, where he covered film stars and fashion features. In Paris he lived with the famous American model Beth Todd.'Beth was muse, model, organiser, make-up artist, hairdresser and stylist for my shoots. She taught me to see and understand fashion.' Borodulin's photographs appeared on the pages of 'Marie Claire','Officielle','Sports Illustrated','Time'-133; Borodulin and American photographer and journalist Michael Mackenzie set up their own magazine, and the first (and as it turned out, last) issue of 'Manhattan Journal' included an interview with Truman Capote, a chapter from a William Burroughs novel and photographs of celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andy Warhol and Brooke Shields. In 1988 Alexander Borodulin returned to Moscow on a commission from American'Playboy' to find and photograph Russian girls for the'Women of Russia' feature. This photo reportage became the most successful and expensive project in the entire history of the magazine. Shooting lasted ninety days and Borodulin's photographs gave many of the models a new start in life.