Gomma Photography Grant 2024
Those who talk in the temple are consigned to sorrow and woe
Photographer
Vladimir Seleznev
Those who talk in the temple are consigned to sorrow and woe
18 Jan, 2025
"In my work, I analyze the causes of apathy, ressentiment, and indifference in Russian society towards the state's repressive policies. In my opinion, Eastern Orthodox culture plays a key role in this. The Orthodox doctrine, emphasizing suffering, self-sacrifice, and unquestioning submission, perpetuates this mentality. The project's title exemplifies this: it is not a threat but a typical appeal to keep silent while inside the church. The Russian political system exploits Orthodoxy for propaganda, citing 'there is no power but of God' (Romans 13:1). The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) officially reproaches the desire for well-being and comfort, calls Covid-19 'God's mercy,' while the president of Russia asserts that in the event of a nuclear war, 'we will go to heaven as martyrs.' The militarization of the church is evident, with the establishment of 'military temples' and the consecration of weapons. Justifying the invasion of Ukraine, the ROC claimed that 'pacifism is incompatible with Orthodox teaching.' This project, my culmination before leaving Russia, visualizes the world under modern neo-Orthodox ideology, envisioning a possible future amidst present realities."
About the photographer
Vladimir Seleznev
:Vladimir Seleznev (b. 1984) is an Israeli and Russian photographer and visual artist. The most important part of his professional activity is devoted to long-term projects that are centered around issues of personal and social identity, social mythology, collective unconscious, as well as problems of suppressing personal self-awareness within various communities, from family to governmental systems. In 2020, he published his first photobook "Oseyev" — a pseudo-documentary research of the typical residential environment of a contemporary metropolis that examines the collective myth of the new "city of the future" and visualizes the consumer demand of the "middle class". It also identifies problems of personal isolation and social discomfort within new urban areas. In 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and intensification of repressive domestic policies, Vladimir Seleznev left Russia and is currently staying between Tel Aviv (Israel) and Tbilisi (Georgia). Since 2018, before leaving Russia, Vladimir worked on a new project "Those who talk in the temple are consigned to sorrow and woe", in which he continues to study the socio-cultural aspects of Russian society. This time, he explores peculiar properties of religious self-awareness as contributing factor to social apathy, ressentiment, as well as the historical legitimization of despotism, authoritarian politics, repression, and external aggression by the state. Vladimir Seleznev has a higher teacher education, he is the author of educational programs on the contemporary photography and visual culture, co-founder and the head of his artist-run photography school.:
