Boris Savelev gave up a career as an aerospace engineer to become an artist. A self-taught photographer, his work is noted for its “constructivist aesthetic”, showing a meticulous attention to light and form. He has spent over three decades documenting change and upheaval on the streets of Russia. Here, he talks about inspiration, techniques and his favourite cameras...
What prompted you to become a photographer?
The love of infinite shades of gray tones on a negative. I first became aware of this when I was 25 and started photographing my first child. From this moment my obsession with printmaking began.
How did you make the transition from engineer to artist?
I devoted all my spare time to photography and printing. I participated in exhibitions, met a different type of person, and gradually stopped working. At that time in the Soviet it was impossible to be an independent photographer – I supported myself and my family [by] printing images for a publishing house and developed a reputation as a very fast and very skilled printer.
What camera did you first use and what do you use now?
Initially, I loved the roll film cameras. I worked in black and white until the 80s, then I started colour work with Kodachrome. I fell in love with colour transparency and in the 90s, I started experimenting with digital cameras. Now I move between digital and film but my current love is the Foveon CCD. It records images that seem to match the way I see. I also use the Leica M8, Nikon D3s, Fuji S5pro and Sigma SD1. I use only a 50mm lens, it is fundamentally important – I never crop images. I work in Photoshop when printing, but not to edit or alter the image.
How important is the equipment?
Technique mediates the way I see and present the things I see. The printing method is as important as the camera to me.
What should be the biggest priority for a photographer?
The desire to observe. To see and to communicate the things you notice.
How did you learn to take pictures?
I am really self-taught. I looked at photo magazines.
Technically and visually, what makes a good picture?
Technically, a perfectly composed image and a perfectly made print. Visually, an image that communicates on many levels. An image that communicates the things [you] felt at the moment [you] took the image. I make photographs, I don’t simply take them. I have to feel my images.
What can you tell us about the way your works are developed?
Initially, I was obsessed with black and white and experimented with process – with platinum and carbon, with Kallitype and gum – anything I could get my hands on, but materials in the Soviet weren’t freely available until after 1989. Later I was introduced to Permaprint – these prints have a subtle colour and a complex surface that is built up in layers. I can use up to six or seven layers in some images. The feel of a perfect gesso-coated aluminium sheet is an inspiration itself. The fact that this approach has closed the gap between painting and photography is very exciting.
Has being a photographer in Russia ever caused problems for you?
Never in Russia. I was detained several times in the USSR for shooting strange subjects. But on a human level, it was a wonderful place. Usually I would show the policemen the image and we would talk. It’s amazing how often a photograph can provoke a beautiful or memorable conversation.
What inspires you?
I once said I drink for inspiration and if it doesn’t come, I drink some more. This is less true since my heart operation. Now I drink less, but I am equally inspired.
Boris Savelev - Colour Constructions is at the Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, until 21 January. Find out more.
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