Perhaps it was a well-conceived and calculatedly executed plan. It seemed difficult to lure the Moscow crowd to the exhibition of Weegee, the king of night photography in New York in the late 1930s. The problem is that Weegee reigned during a time that, although close in spirit, was ancient and not very fashionable. Therefore, his characters - gangsters, fires, corpses and ominous theater critics - did not fit into the rigid schedule of domestic playmakers. However, although Vidzhi did not manage to appear with us on time - at the height of the 1990s, when he was truly relevant - he was still not entirely late. They saw him. The bait was Karim Rashid - a two-meter guy, all in pink, a promoted New York designer of Egyptian-English blood, a spectacular character who built himself a throne out of digital technology. The operation was a success - the large main hall of the Tatintsyan gallery could not accommodate everyone who wanted to get acquainted with the latest design trends - moreover, it was filled with medium-sized Rashidov colored structures that did not hold the gaze for long. And the brilliant public did not even think of sitting down on his work’s unsightly felt chairs: the fashionable ecological spirit in them was difficult to discern, but the rustic organic spirit was easy to discern. But it has not yet become fashionable in our area; we have all come out of the people too recently to rejoice at such things. And even if gray and pink are in harmony, what about a dress with slits or chic pants - almost the same felt boots, even if Karim Rashid personally made it with his golden hands. Large shiny panels with images of colored droplets and group sex of robots of unknown gender also looked quickly - there was nothing for the eye to grab onto - and immediately fell into the Weegee trap. Under the constant pressure of newcomers, the public, who had not satisfied their craving for beauty, descended and, willy-nilly, was forced to touch true art. Some (who had not yet encountered tedious exhibition rules such as “do not touch with hands”) directly touched the photographs with their fingers (rarities were saved by glass). A slow stream flowed, allowing me to look at the pictures carefully, note all the details, and come up with theories. The explanations were different, but it was felt that the crowd liked Vidzhi - his work attracted inexperienced glances, slowed them down, forced them to take a closer look, to delve once again into the turbulent years - others' and their own. After all, we didn’t have such a Vidgy - driving around the city with a car radio, constantly tuned to the police wave, and a camera. Living with the nerves of a night city, full of events, incidents, tragedies that he had to see and film first. Weegee was a legend in New York - as if his camera did not record real life, but created it - it was said that the criminal files included only those whom he photographed, that corpses were not registered until his photograph. Vidji worked in this mode for ten years - that was enough for him and the city. Both were tired, but they learned everything, gained a lot and began to rest on their laurels. Weegee made the book “Naked City”, the exhibition “Weegee: Murder is My Business”, shot for fashion magazines and collaborated with Stanley Kubrick. The works of former emigrant Asher Falik, who moved to America from Lvov with his family in 1899, were shown in the USSR in 1959. Then it was exotic “their customs.” Now the photographs look like family - otherwise the cream of our society would hardly enthusiastically run their fingers over them, although they could not see how the photographer signed the photographs on the back - simply: “Vidji is a celebrity.”
Faina BALAKHOVSKAYA
Viji and Rashid • Vremya novostej • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive
