“Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography
This article looks at the exhibition New Landscape (2018), which was the first full-scale attempt to reflect on the popularity of “deadpan” photography in Russia in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The show was partly modeled on the American exhibition New Topographics (1975). I lo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2022-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/19138 |
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| author | Victoria Musvik |
| author_facet | Victoria Musvik |
| author_sort | Victoria Musvik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article looks at the exhibition New Landscape (2018), which was the first full-scale attempt to reflect on the popularity of “deadpan” photography in Russia in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The show was partly modeled on the American exhibition New Topographics (1975). I look at the reasons why the American model was adopted and the earlier late Soviet and Russian photographic projects that dealt with boredom, including the most non-conformist ones, were avoided. I conclude that the reasons for this should be analyzed in the complex postcolonial context, which includes the acting out of collective trauma. In my analysis, I focus on the link between trauma and repressed aggression, violence, and resentment. I also show how Russian deadpan photography has opposed Putin’s regime and developed a pioneer methodology for reflecting on the post-Soviet condition. The American model was used to bring together a diversity of viewpoints, which reveals more complex and integrated ways of dealing with collective affect. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a5708ec64d814d4192390a19fcaaf416 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-a5708ec64d814d4192390a19fcaaf4162025-01-06T09:08:19ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362022-12-0117410.4000/ejas.19138“Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan PhotographyVictoria MusvikThis article looks at the exhibition New Landscape (2018), which was the first full-scale attempt to reflect on the popularity of “deadpan” photography in Russia in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The show was partly modeled on the American exhibition New Topographics (1975). I look at the reasons why the American model was adopted and the earlier late Soviet and Russian photographic projects that dealt with boredom, including the most non-conformist ones, were avoided. I conclude that the reasons for this should be analyzed in the complex postcolonial context, which includes the acting out of collective trauma. In my analysis, I focus on the link between trauma and repressed aggression, violence, and resentment. I also show how Russian deadpan photography has opposed Putin’s regime and developed a pioneer methodology for reflecting on the post-Soviet condition. The American model was used to bring together a diversity of viewpoints, which reveals more complex and integrated ways of dealing with collective affect.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/19138boredomdeadpan photographyNew TopographicsNovyy peyzazh |
| spellingShingle | Victoria Musvik “Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography European Journal of American Studies boredom deadpan photography New Topographics Novyy peyzazh |
| title | “Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography |
| title_full | “Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography |
| title_fullStr | “Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography |
| title_short | “Boring Photography”: American New Topographics, Socialist Boredom, and Post-Soviet Deadpan Photography |
| title_sort | boring photography american new topographics socialist boredom and post soviet deadpan photography |
| topic | boredom deadpan photography New Topographics Novyy peyzazh |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/19138 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT victoriamusvik boringphotographyamericannewtopographicssocialistboredomandpostsovietdeadpanphotography |