Donated and stolen (a book in Russian and English). Vereshchagin I., project curator Sergei Smolin

“donated”.

there is special magic at the moment when the photographer concludes a deal with his counterpart, thereby determining the miracle that we call photography. In this case, the frame is immersion, joint effort, dialogue. Someone gives his image to a person with a camera, trusting this person and accepts the participants in him with a creative initiative. But is there an exact word that determines what was originally belonging to another and was taken from him or from it without permission?

“Stolen.”

I am talking about a photograph taken without permission. The digitized hidden picture of the fleeting moment at someone’s life without beginning and end. This can be an eternity, but we simply cannot stop and really believe in it. Nevertheless, it becomes eternal, because there is nothing more infinite and direct than instant silence, even the shortest. Strange or familiar people in the focus of the camera lens. The camera is hidden in the folds of the coat. Press the shutter button.