Days of Melancholy
Tatiana Vinogradova’s Days of Melancholy is a series focusing on the life of gay people in Russia. It is a visual tale of melancholy, loneliness and uncertainty about the future. In Russia the level of intolerance toward homosexuality has been rising sharply, and in a 2013 survey 74% of Russians said that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. In Russia, it is effectively illegal to hold gay pride events, speak in defence of gay rights, or say that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships. This reality has driven the gay community underground, into the shadows. In Russia only 1% of the gay population dares to live openly. Vinogradova offers poetic, intimate portraits depicting an internal beauty of the characters. The general mood of the work is dark and melancholic, but her work employs a somewhat painterly palette of bold colours, asking us to respect each other's beauty instead of attacking each other for our differences.
Artist Profile(s)
Tatiana Vinogradova
Tatiana Vinogradova is a freelance photographer based in St. Petersburg, Russia. She studied journalism at St. Petersburg State University. In 2013 she graduated from Photo Department Institute in St. Petersburg and also participated in the workshop with Pieter ten Hoopen (VU). In 2016 she took 1st Prize of the CPOY Portrait category and the 3rd Prize of the Atlanta Photojournalism contest in the Feature Picture Story category. In 2015 she took the 2nd Prize in the NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Portrait series, and 1st Prize of Pride Photo Award. In addition, she was first finalist of Contour by Getty Images Portrait Prize 2013, a finalist of the New York Photo Festival, the Kuala Lumpur International Portrait Awards and the 2014 International Photo Festival Leiden. Tatiana's documentary projects have been selected for a number of exhibitions such as the Festival of Political Photography in Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland, the PhotoWorld in Brooklyn, USA, the Talent Latent 16 in Tarragona, Spain, the Marsciano Arte Giovani in Marsciano, Italy, the Young Photography Exhibition in St. Petersburg, Russia.