Exhibition of St. Petersburg photographer Stanislav Levshin "The art of being a spectator"

The theater, the secrets of his backstage and life under the ramp of famous actors: in the Crimea for the first time an exhibition of St. Petersburg photographer Stanislav Levshin will be held The art of being a spectator

The exhibition presented by the ICTI “Golden Key” will open on the International Theater Day, March 27, in the Yevpatoria gallery “TheHARASHO”.

Despite the fact that now Stanislav works at several leading venues in St. Petersburg - at the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov, the Bolshoi Puppet Theater, St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Shostakovich and the Mikhailovsky Theater - he came to theater photography relatively recently. Almost 20 years ago, graduating from the Faculty of Chemistry of St. Petersburg State University, the future photographer is simultaneously studying at the Faculty of Photography. Halperin. The question “chemistry or photography” is decided by itself: an intern is needed for the editorial board of Komsomolskaya Pravda, and the faculty management advises a novice author.

While working at Komsomolskaya Pravda, Stanislav also successfully collaborates with magazines such as Newsweek, Ogonyok, The National Geographic, Russian Reporter, Medved and many other publications and agencies.

In 2006, he transferred to a sports publication, where he worked for the next six years. Having traveled to several European and world championships in various sports and even to the Beijing Olympics, he realizes that he does not want to do sports photography anymore. It was during this period that Stanislav first came to the ballet festival “Dance Open” and was fascinated by the magic happening on the stage. So, the Mikhailovsky Theater appears in the life of a photographer, with whom he has been collaborating for many years, and then other theater venues. The reaction and ability to concentrate over the years of the correspondent’s work, the ability to see the interesting in the banal, reporter’s grip, help the author create a photo chronicle of the famous theaters of St. Petersburg today.

The Golden Mask “Governor”, the shocking multi-part performance by Andrei Moguchy “Three Fat Men”, “Alice” with the brilliant Alisa Freindlich in the title role, George Shtil in the dressing room, the premiere performance “Glory” by Konstantin Bogomolov and the Oedipus in the Column by Andrei Konchalovsky, Zviz Konchalovsky, Irina Perren and Ivan Vasiliev, performances of the odious composer Oleg Karavaychuk. More than fifty photographs show the features of scenography and the individuality of the performers. The exhibition will be a real gift for all fans of theatrical art.

- What is the peculiarity of theatrical photography?

- In a sense, it can be compared to shooting an advertisement. The photographer needs to show all the most interesting and attractive, but at the same time leave the intrigue. Spoilers are unacceptable, because why go to the show, if everything is clear from the pictures? Therefore, here is such a fine line: to leave the magic, the spirit of the performance, while not talking about its essence. If the viewer, looking at my photos, immediately goes to buy a ticket for a performance, or just wants to learn a little more about it, then I coped with the task.

- Did many years of experience in sports photography come in handy?

- Of course. From the point of view of photography, sports are very similar to ballet, and the theater as a whole is fast movements, strong emotions, the need to constantly be in a state of increased concentration during shooting. Of course, it happens that some performances have to be re-shot two or three times in order to catch key points, such as the fall of a chandelier in Alice or the way the wall in Three Fat Men collapses, but this is rather the exception.

- What difficulties do you encounter? Do I need to know the work of the theater from the inside, or is just “catching a good shot” enough?

- Of course, you need to know theatrical cuisine. There are some nuances here. For example, I shoot a lot of rehearsals, which means unfinished scenery, artists who can be without makeup or only half dressed in costumes, some other working points that need to be taken into account. But you can take them into account only when you know a little more than just a person from the side. With ballet photography is even more difficult. In addition to all of the above, the photographer needs to know the elementary alphabet of ballet. Which pose for the ballerina is advantageous, and which only emphasizes the underfoot or undershot jet. All this has been developed over the years, you need to watch a lot of ballet, be interested in it and, of course, love. In any case, in order to get a good photo, it is necessary that the subject of the shooting - a performance or an artist - be liked. Otherwise, it may turn out to be just a competent picture. Perhaps the difference between the first and second, no one will notice, but it is.