Apologies for this unrelated plug, but my Polyarnye Nochi series, which was all shot in and around Russia’s Kola Peninsula, will be exhibited in the upcoming Format Festival in Derby, which officially opens next Thursday 5th March.

The theme this year is PHOTOCINEMA, which is described by curator Louise Clements in the following way:

“From film still to still film the theme for FORMAT09 is positioned in the half-light between these two narrative and technical sensibilities, colliding – fact with fiction, historicism with fantasy, and reality with the cinematic. The festival contains the work of artists who extend the ‘still’ image in time through the use of photo-narrative sequencing, directed or documentary photography and moving image from single still to feature film.”

Unforgiving and dramatic winters have often been regarded as one of Russia’s most defining characteristics.  A Russian winter is redolent both of great hardship but also great beauty and for centuries it has been romanticised in the country’s painting, music and cinema. A continuation of my exploration of contemporary Russian society and partly inspired by Russian cinema, Polyarnye Nochi explores the winter landscapes of Northern Russia during a period known as Polar Nights, when the region is shrouded in darkness nearly 24 hours a day. To find out more about the work, you can download an article by the writer Alexandra Lennox, entitled ‘The influence, inspiration and interplay of Simon Robert’s Polyarnye Nochi and Russian cinema,’ here.

This will be the first major exhibition of the series and will be exhibited in the main programme in the Quad Gallery along with work by Hannah Starkey, Muge, Zhang Xiao, Gregory Crewdson, William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, Jonas Mekas, Eric Baudelaire, David Lynch, Mark Read, Nichola Dove, Bethany Murray, Magnum Cinema, Pang Xuan.

As part of the festival I will be conducting a day’s seminar on 25th March from 10.30am -4.30pm, which is open to all practicing photographers. The seminar will focus on my career development, strategies for realising personal projects, practical advice and portfolio feedback. Then in the evening I’ll be delivering an Artist Talk where I’ll discuss the series and it’s interplay with Russian cinema. It will be followed by a screening of Andrei Zvyagintsev’s superb film The Return (2003).

Both events can be booked through QUAD Box Office on 01332 290606 or by going to the Derby Quad website here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 8:14 pm and is filed under REVIEWS & PRESS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.