The “Town in the Frame” exhibition created based on the photos presented by Egor Lazurenko’s photo school within Satka.Lab laboratory, was opened on March 23 in Art-Satka public creative space.

Egor Lazurenko’s photo school united people aged from 16 to 65, most of them were not previously engaged in photographing. Old timers of Magnezit Group and children of the company employees are among its students.

- The majority of my students made their photos even not with cameras, but with phones. The shots were mostly small. Nearly 50% of the photos presented in the exposition were zoomed by artificial intelligence, said the head of the photo school. – Among 12 people, who started attending the classes, seven reached the end. It’s a good result. I’m grateful to each of them as they fitted their schedules to attend lectures and do the homework. The final exposition, which comprised 40 photos, was named “Town in the Frame”, but a spectator will not find any photos of the town as is. We strove for depicting not the streets of Satka or its architecture. We photoed the life of our town and its residents. 

The author’s message is also emphasized by the place the photo takes in the exposition. So, photos taken by Pavel Kuleshov are located at the entrance to the public space. The author showed the versatility of Satka, where an industrial enterprise adjoins fabulous buildings of Sonkina Laguna and the Duplo Orla island complex, and monumental quarries are alternated with soothing landscapes. Then spectators see a series of photos taken by Dina Ryazanova, Evgenia S. (the author does not want to reveal her surname), Daria Natsetova and Maxim Lobanov, which allows looking at well-known locations from a different angle, discovering new nuances in the known and thinking about the role of fantasy in a human life; these photos also offer an opportunity to catch the beauty, which is sometimes forgotten or hidden behind our everyday life.

The former kitchen room is occupied by a series of photos, which shows the backstage of canteen of Bakalskoye deposit (by Evgenia Konstantinova).

The photos taken by Alexandra Gordiyuk, showing the diverse hobbies of young Satka residents, are exhibited in the play space. Anastasia Nevzorova shows a rocker from Satka. But he is not in a stage image, but in his everyday life: we see not a man with piercing or tattoos in a leather biker jacket playing the drums, but a young guy in wool socks and a sweater.

One more series depicts the activities of Vityaz Satka search team. The photos were taken by one of the team members, Egor Strokolis 7 years ago during a Memory Shift in Vyazma, where Vyazma entrapment had been formed in the course of the Great Patriotic War. It was the most bitter defeat of the Red Army. The author gave a special sense to the photos, painting the grass red, as the ground there is soaked with blood of the soldiers, who fell for the freedom of their homeland.

- Two years ago I became keen on photography, and when a photo school was opened in Art-Satka, I took an opportunity to attend the classes, to learn the shooting secrets. I’m grateful to our supervisor, he helped me to determine the direction, which could be endlessly developed. Keeping a close watch on a child’s progress – what if they become “big-names” one day. I became more self-confident, now I’m not afraid of approaching people and asking, if I can take their photos. In addition, Egor shared practices to develop creativity, for example, using a different road to go to work or writing with the left hand instead of the right one. Now I use these features during the classes with my students, said Alexandra Gordiyuk, the teacher of Satka IT-Cube.

The “Town in the Frame” exhibition will be open until May 1. Admission is free.

Source: Magnezitovets. Photo by: Vasily Maximov.