to critique idealization and representation. Of all his
projects, these three have been the most closely asso-
ciated with the work of the Moscow Conceptualists,
a group of artists including Ilya Kabokov, Eric
Bulatov, and Oleg Vassiliev, who radically and iro-
nically sought to comment on the legacy of the
Russian avant-guard and Social Realism in order
to address the failures and hypocrisy in their society.
The next important phase in Mikhailov’s work,
which includes the projectsUnfinished Dissertation
(1985) andSalt Lake(1986), explored ways to ques-
tion the stability and objectivity of more traditional
photojournalistic-looking images. Combining black-
and-white photos with sloppy hand-written text in
no discernable relationship to one another,Unfin-
ished Dissertationepitomizes the futility of subjectiv-
ity inside an environment in which it is not allowed
to exist. Displayed on the backside of a lengthy and
incomplete academic dissertation that Mikhailov
happened upon in the garbage, the work irreverently
reveals authority, meaning, and truth as little more
than facade.Salt Laketakes as its subject the bathers
on the shores of a lake near Slavjansk. What might
at first be mistaken for idyllic images of a summer
outing, at closer inspection reveal another fissure in
the myth of the Soviet utopia—as the viewer slowly
realizes that the lake is surrounded by a dirty and
inhospitable industrial landscape.
As dramatic historical changes occurred around
him—the fall of communism and the declaration of
Ukrainian independence—Mikhailov’s photographic
work kept close stride. His most acclaimed post-Soviet
bodies of work,By the Ground(1991) andCase His-
tory (1997–1998), document the uneasy transition
from a socialist to capitalist model of society.By the
Groundconsists of street scenes in Kharkov and Mos-
cow shot from a camera held at waist level, pointed
down. The melodramatic formal qualities of the
panoramic, sepia-toned pictures, in contrast with the
banality of the scenes portrayed, cleverly parallel
the tension felt between the promise of freedom
and the slow and complicated moment towards
tangible social and political change. Case History,
undoubtedly Mikhailov’s most well-known and con-
troversial work to date, unflinchingly records the
plight of the newly created homeless population
known as thebomzhes.Diseasedbodies,depraved
sexuality, lawless children, feral animals, and grue-
somely desperate living conditions are the subject mat-
ter of this body of almost 500 color documentary-style
photographs. When asked about the reaction of his
subjects to being photographed, Mikhailov explains:
Most often they were more interested in contact and
conversation and in the help they could receive, butsometimes they wanted the situation in which they
found themselves to be known, so that someone would
take and interest in it.
(‘‘A Discussion Between Boris Mikhailov and Jan
Kaila’’)
Critics were quick to point out the fine ethical
line that this work straddles—as Mikhailov paid
his subjects to pose and often directed their perfor-
mances in front of the camera. Some voiced out-
rage over the sensationally voyeuristic portrayal of
tragic circumstances for a Western audience, while
others defended the work as an important socio-
historical record and desperate call for help.
Mikhailov’s career has spanned more than 35
years, and he continues to exhibit and publish
widely in the East and West. He has been the reci-
pient of many prestigious international awards,
including: the Coutts Contemporary Art Award,
the Hasselblad Award, and the Citibank Photogra-
phy Prize. He continues to photograph and cur-
rently splits his time between his native Kharkov
and Berlin, Germany.
LaurelPtak
Seealso:Photography in Russia and Eastern EuropeBiography
Born in Kharkov, USSR (now Ukraine), August 25, 1938.
Educated as an engineer. Employed as technical engineer
at Kharkov Camera Works from 1962–1967, and through
the 1970s as a hand-retoucher of photographs and com-
mercial photographer. Teaching appointments at Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology and Collegium Helveti-
cum, Zurich, Switzerland, 1998–1999; Harvard University
Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts, 2000. Recipient of Light Work
Fellowship, Syracuse, New York, 1994; Coutts Contem-
porary Art Foundation Award, Zu ̈rich, Switzerland, 1996;
DAAD Fellowship, Berlin, Germany 1996–1997; Kultur-
stiftung Landis & Gyr Fellowship Zu ̈rich, Switzerland,
1998–1999; Hasselblad Foundation International Award
in Photography, Go ̈teborg, Sweden, 2000; Citibank Pri-
vate Bank Photography Prize, London, England, 2001;
General Satellite Corporation Prize, Russia, 2003. Lives
and works in Kharkov, Ukraine, and Berlin, Germany.Individual Exhibitions
1990 The Missing Picture: Alternative Contemporary Photo-
graphy from the Soviet Union; List Visual Arts Center,
MIT; Cambridge, Massachusetts
1994 U Zemli; XL Gallery, Moscow, Russia
1995 After the Fall; Institute of Contemporary Art; Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania
1996 Boris Mikhailov: A Retrospective; Soros Center of
Contemporary Art; Kiev, UkraineMIKHAILOV, BORIS