James Hill at Moscow Museum of Modern Art
James Hill “Victory Day”
Moscow Museum of Modern Art
April 30 – May 23, 2010
Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents “Victory Day”, solo exhibition of British photographer
James Hill, as part of “Fotobiennale-2010” parallel program. The exhibition marking the 65th anniversary of the victory in World War II unites black-and-white portraits of Russian veterans made during the last four years.
The idea of the project originated in 2006. James Hill, fascinated by the Russian tradition of honouring the veterans of that war, decided to take pictures of them in the Gorky Park during the Victory Day celebrations. The preparations were minimal: a white backdrop was placed on a stand, and the elderly heroes stood there as they were. In 2006, the photographer portrayed women only, as over a million women fought in that war, which was an unprecedented example of women mobilization. Later, James Hill went beyond his initial plan to be limited with women’s portraits and came back to the Gorky Park on May 9 of 2007, 2008 and 2009, creating new series of portraits of women and men alike.