Fyodor was born in 1986 in the town of Nizhny Tagil. He graduated from the art-graphic faculty State Social Pedagogical Academy of Nizhny Tagil. 
Today as a professional photographer and artist, member of the Union of Photo Artists of Russia, lives and works in Ekaterinburg. Participant of international, all-russian and regional photography exhibitions and contemporary art, international workshops; winner of the international, all-Russia photo contests. Personal exhibitions: “Hidden” (gallery “Window”, Chelyabinsk, 2009),  “Windows” (Galerie 4, galerie fotografie, Cheb, Czechia), “Small stories” (“the House of Metenkova” a photo Museum, Ekaterinburg). Engaged in art, reportage, documentary photography.

Today's post is especially focused on the subtle borders of reality, myth and tales could be found when we are talking about the Ural region in Russia. Russian photographer Fyodor Telkov is probably the best artistic researcher of these margins, presenting his two projects dedicated to Ural mystical reality: Tales and Smog.

Tales
Ural is a geographical region in Russia and Kazakhstan. Ural mountain rock formation occupies the main part of the territory. Ural mountains spread for 25000 km from the Arctic Ocean to Kazakhstan. This is the border between Europe and Asia.
Ural is not only a place of geographical junction but also a melting pot for many cultures and ethnicities. First people appeared to settle the region many centuries B.C. Pagan, Muslim and Christian cultures have crossed here in the Medieval Age. Russians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Ukrainians, Udmurts, Komi, Mari, Mansi are still neighbouring each other.
Since XVII the region has become an industrial centre in the country and remained it until nowadays. Finally, Russians have colonized it. Industrial civilization became a new milestone in Ural’s history.
 
However, the myths and the reality, the past and the present coexist creating a special and unique Ural world. Ancient pagan myths guard its mountains, rivers, forests, and people who have taken up its archetypal authenticity.
The project has its three starting points: the Mansi and Bashkir mythologies, literary works by Pavel Bazhov and industrial culture. The name of the project itself is a reference to Ural Tales by Pavel Bazhov who was the first one to work with Ural mythology regenerating its pagan deities into fairy-tale characters, connecting them with industrial characters - working class people. The photoproject “Tales” is an attempt to figure out a new image of the region based on its rich cultural and historical material.


Smog 

"Smog – is an excessive air pollution with harmful substances by industrial enterprises, transport and heating plants in certain weather conditions”.
 
Ural is the most industrialized region of Russia. Most of the settlements here are built around plants and factories and for the plants and factories. Its mass construction has started in the epoch of Peter the Great. Some of the enterprises gave birth to some of the big cities that exist until nowadays, while others either became out of date and disappeared or remained in ruins. The existence of Ural was predestined for labour and industry. Partly, it is so nowadays.
The post-industrial era comes, the landmarks change, so do the industrial technologies. As a result, numerous enterprises, cities and consequently people suffer a crisis. Some of the plants close, some of them bring down its production, some of them (which is the least part) switch to the new technological requirements. The topical problem of such monocities in Ural: once the enterprise is vanished – so does the city. The leftovers of the plants, mines, quarries, factories inflate almost every settlement in Ural regions, hovering like a smog in the air and people’s everyday life.


Website

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calvertjournal.com/features/show/4836/skazy-fyodor-telkov-ural-photography