Our US: As a Photographer After Chechnya, Got to America and Gained World Fame - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

Our USA: as a photographer after Chechnya came to America and gained worldwide fame

Pavel Antonov is a world-famous photographer working in the fashion and show business industry. His portfolio includes covers of Vogue, ELLE and Vanity Fair magazines, work with the New York Times and Financial News Media, filming for the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center. This is his American story as told by "Voice of America«.

Photo: video frame

Pavel was born in Volgograd, but in 10 years he moved with his parents to Karaganda, Kazakhstan. When Pavel grew up, he became crowded in the city, and he went to Moscow.

Ksenia was born and raised in Moscow, and cannot boast such a wide geography of life as Pavel. She grew up in an ordinary Moscow family. After graduation, she studied at a law school. At first she worked in the ministry for five years, after which a friend offered her a job on television, where she also worked for five years.

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Once Paul was called by friends from Switzerland and offered to come to the shooting of the film. So he was in Chechnya. If it were not for the customs with which Paul had known since childhood, he could have perished. Pavel moved to the states in November 1998 of the year.

Photo: video frame

“Everything here was completely different than in Russia during the frantic 90s,” recalls Pavel. — Automatic queues on the streets of Moscow every day, lack of food, banditry. These were wild years for all the people of the post-Soviet space.”

Having decided that he was going to New York, Pavel set three goals for himself: first, he should like the photographs himself, despite the fact that he worked with many magazines and was published all over the world. The second is so that his idols in the art world like the photographs. Third - work in Conde nast. Interestingly, without even waiting for him, Pavel achieved all his goals in seven years, because at that time it seemed unrealizable to both himself and his friends.

“I chose New York because life here is like a competition. Everyone knows that if you survived in New York, you can survive anywhere, even on Mars, without air and without a spacesuit. I needed to break myself, start life from scratch, and that’s why I ended up in New York,” says Pavel.

Ksenia never planned to live in America. She ended up in New York a year and a half ago. “My colleague asked for a visa to travel together. At that moment there were very cheap tickets to New York. I thought she needed to get her visa approved,” she recalls.

Having bought tickets on Friday, on Saturday she was already in New York.

The city itself greatly inspired Paul. What struck him most was the politeness and tolerance. And Ksenia felt like she was in a “duvet” in the city - very comfortable, good and unexpected.

The first job was a theater in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Then this city was criminal, on the street one lantern shone. Pavel also enjoyed walking around Chinatown and Central Park, and throughout New York as a whole.

Photo: video frame

Xenia liked the little streets, where there are not a lot of people. They reminded her of old Europe.

Paul has no particular specialization in photography. He, as a professional, removes everything. But he himself most of all loves to shoot the theater, people, fashion.

Pavel and Xenia introduced. Pavel was approached by a friend who asked for help to find an apartment for a girl who worked as a TV producer. Considering that Pavel was unable to help in the search for an apartment, he allowed the girl to live with him for a while until she found housing. It turned out that the temporary lodger likes to acquaint everyone. Three times she tried to introduce Paul and Xenia. The first attempts were in vain, but the last time she showed a clip of Xenia in YouTube. Then Paul paid attention to her.

Yana, a clerk friend, told Xenia about Paul and vice versa. Once Ksenia came to visit her friend, where she met with Pavel and they never left again. Now she acts as a stylist on the set, helps Paul with lighting and acts as his assistant, although sometimes it’s hard when her husband is very demanding. Xenia gave makeup courses, so she is now developing in a new field.

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Settle in Conde nast Paul was not helped by the photos of the models, but by the portraits of actors, artists, and those whom he admired at one time. Among them was Mikhail Baryshnikov.

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It is interesting that, in one way or another, all those who are filmed by Paul, even bystanders and at first glance ordinary people, end up being people of art.

Paul's business card has become Burning Man is an annual eight-day event taking place in the Black Rock Desert.

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When he got to the event, Pavel could not take pictures for three days, as he was worried that an ordinary tourist photo would turn out. Three days later, feeling the desert, he was able to make excellent photos. The pictures were so good that even Paul was delighted with them.

Photo: video frame

Photo: video frame

Photo: video frame

For Paul, every photograph is a story. The history of its creation, the history of emotional contact or lack thereof. Together with Dmitry Hvorostovsky they had an idea - to collect and publish photos with the history of their creation.

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If we talk about plans, then Ksenia dreams of confirming a law degree and entering a university. Pavel wants his wife to continue to sing, and also to continue to shoot artists, to release a book with photo stories and to prepare an exhibition, on which a person will fall into another world.

Photo: video frame

More stories about how our people work in the US can be found at this link.

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