Alexander Isakov
Pictures of Experience

Alexander Isakov’s oeuvre does not fit within the canon of trending art photography. It features neither dull socially charged landscapes, nor vagabond exoticism, nor models with heart-rending backgrounds. One gets the feeling that the photographer’s vision is akin to a painted canvas, so narrative-driven and even cinematic are his pictures. Left behind the scenes is his lengthy creative process that includes painstaking preparation of the set, actual shoot, and subsequent digital image editing. That said, even random snapshots taken during trips blend harmoniously with his distinct artistic reality deliberately abounding in allegories.

Alexander Isakov’s creative universe mostly revolves around a person’s inner states which the artist characteristically describes not in terms of therapy session newspeak, but in dreamlike imagery. Eyeless faces, just like in Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, blood, and levitation within the picture frame seem natural here. As it turns out, photography, initially meant to create replicas of reality, is also capable of looking into the depths of the human soul storing the most painful memories – a quality achieved through new technology and, of course, the artist’s mastery.

The deeply personal past experiences, reflected in staged scenes full of eloquent detail, gain a universal significance, which is essentially the true meaning of art photography. Alexander Isakov’s visionary gift and scale of creative ambition invite comparisons with the English poet William Blake. After all, addressing one’s inner world is somewhat like communicating with spirits.