Description
Monika Piotrowska reviewing a book Dust In No. 40 of "Photography Quarterly," in the subheading of the review, she wrote: Nthe most powerful photobook of the year. In fact, it is a remarkable book, in an exceptionally accurate and true depiction of the transformation of Russia from the superpower of the decline of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, through the period of the collapse of the USSR and the breakaway of the former republics from Mother-Russia and their breaking out into independence, to the aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Forecki shows not only the nightmare of wars caused in Georgia and Chechnya by the imperial sentiments of the rulers of the Kremlin, but also the cult of power, the army of ordinary Russians.
Let's give the floor to Monica Piotrowska for a moment: The whole consists of 12 chapters, and each presents a topic of powerful impact already as a single - from the earthquake in Armenia and the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, to the emigration of Jews to Israel, the war against the Russians in Chechnya, the civil war in Afghanistan, the settlement of Crimea by the Tatars, the battle of the Lithuanians for parliament, and finally - a picture of the fascination with force and the military in Russia, to the war refugees from Ukraine. The very enumeration and ranking of these topics suggests that the Dust illustrates the harrowing process. And that's exactly what it is, because each photo here works like a bullet. There's no need to elaborate - Forecki's instinct, the seventh sense that tells him to capture the most important moment from reality, have been known for years, awarded.
Mariusz Forecki (1962) - documentary filmmaker and author of books. For many years he has been photographing human beings entangled in socio-political processes. Graduate of the Institute of Creative Photography at Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic, co-founder of the PIX.HOUSE Foundation in Poznań.