Alexander Anufriev (b. 1988) is a Moscow-based photographer who works on projects describing and analyzing the social landscape of contemporary Russia.
He graduated from the Rodchenko Art School in 2017. He was the winner of the Sony World Photography Awards (2017) and of the international competition Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Awards (2017). His works were shortlisted for the LensCulture Exposure Awards competition (2017) and the PDN Photo Annual Awards (2017, 2018).
About ‘Close-up Russia’:
This series is both a subjective look at aspects of contemporary life in Russia and a visual dictionary of a whole country. For me, it’s about finding out what defines contemporary Russia; that’s why, besides subjective interests and national cliches, I do visualize significant social processes that took place during the last years: clericalization, forcing of patriotism and nationalism, strengthening of censorship and propaganda.
My approach is defined by candid images. Sometimes, I find myself in the situation of asking someone to stand still so a can take a photo of him, but I prefer not to ask if it’s possible. I shoot in crowds – that’s how I get so close to the people. Average distance for images with people is 20-80cm. Sometimes, I shoot from behind so my subjects don’t even see me. Other times, I pretend that I’m shooting something and they are obstructing my view.
