Gueorgui Pinkhassov

Gueorgui Pinkhassov was born on August 12,1969 in Moscow, Russia.

 

Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s love for photography started when he was just a teenager and enrolled at the Moscow Institute of Cinematography, VGIK. During His education there developed his skill in capturing images that are still being used today. many photographers around the world as an example to follow or something they can strive towards achieving themselves!

 

After graduating college, Pinkhassov went to serve in the Russian army for 2 years. When he came back from the army he joined a film crew at Mosfilm. Continuing his interest in photography he became a set photographer at the studio. The work of the young photographer was noticed by the film director Andrei Tarkovsky, who later invited Pinkhassov to work on the set of his film called “ Stalker”. This movie is a1979 Soviet science fiction art drama with a screenplay written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, loosely based on their 1972 novel Roadside Picnic. The film combines elements of science fiction and dramatic philosophical and psychological themes. Stalker was released on Goskino in May 1979. Upon release, the film garnered mixed reviews, but in subsequent years it has been recognized as a classic of world cinema, with the British Film Institute ranking it number 29 on its list of the “50 Greatest Films of All Time”. The film sold over 4 million tickets, mostly in the Soviet Union, against a budget of 1 million Soviet rubles. 

 

Being awarded independent artist status by the Moscow Union of Graphic Arts in 1978 allowed Gueorgui Pinkhassov far more freedom to travel. This opportunity allowed him to exhibit his work internationally. In 1979, his work was noticed outside of Russia for the very first time, in a group of exhibitions of Soviet photographers held in Paris. Previously, the works of Pinkhassov were mainly seen in a number of Russian magazines, including L’artitste Sovetique. 

 

His acceptance by the Magnum Photos agency in 1988 opened up his work to a wider audience. Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in different cities like New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. Magnum was founded in Paris, 1947 by Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, William and Rita Vandivert and Maria Eisner, based on an idea of Capa’s. Magnum is one of the first photographic cooperatives, owned and administered entirely by members. The staff serve a support role for the photographers, who retain all copyrights to their own work.   

 

Gueorgui Pinkhassov worked for the international media covering major events in Lithuania, Mongolia, Indonesia and Africa. Returning to Moscow to cover the 1991 Coup for the New York Times.

 

As for now, Pinkhassov lives in Paris, France and has a French citizenship. 

 

In 1995, Gueorgui received a photographic scholarship from the city and later in 1998 he published a book Sightwalk, photographs of Japan.

Pinkhassov has an instagram account pinkhassov with over 153K followers. On this platform the photographer is quite active and he posts his photos. The photos are generally done in the streets of Paris, Moscow or Saint Petersburg.