Colours of Russia News:
Voice of Russia Interviews Michael Hockney in Moscow 02/09/07
Michael Hockney is interviewd on Timelines by presenter Estelle Winters. In the interview Michael describes his hopes and ambitions for the project which will become Colours of Russia.
 |
|
The Producer meets with Ambassador Ralph Lysyshyn 03/10/07
The Colours of Russia production meets with His Excellency Ralph Lysyshyn of Canada at The Canadian Embassy in Moscow. Michael outlines the project to the Ambassador in a private meeting. The Ambassador expresses his support for an initiative which encourages and fosters undwerstanding between Canada and Russia.
|
|
The Foundation Photoshoot 07/1/07
A production office is established in St. Petersburg and shooting begins. Production shoots are completed in Moscow, Nihzniy Novgorod and St. Petersburg. In all, 15,000 images are taken as part of the foundation photo-essay using digital and specialist cameras.
|
|
The Colours Group of Canada 6/24/09
The Colours of Russia production launches in Canada on Canada Day in recognition of Canada's history of tolerance and understanding towards nationalities and cultures. The Colours of Russia websites "go live". www.coloursofrussia.com www.coloursofrussia.ca
 The Colours Group Website
|
|
|
ITAR-TASS 8/11/09
КАНАДА-РОССИЯ-ФОТОГРАФИИ
Фотогалерею "Цвета России", призванную "противостоять устаревшим и часто негативным стереотипам", создалканадскийфотохудожник
ОТТАВА, 11 августа. /Корр.ИТАР-ТАСС Игорь Борисенко/. Красочную фотогалерею "Цвета России", призванную "противостоять устаревшим и часто негативным стереотипам в глобальных средствах массовой информации" создал канадский фотохудожник Майкл Хокни. В нее включены несколько сот ярких, полных жизни и цвета снимков, сделанных во время поездки в Москву, Санкт-Петербург, Нижний Новгород и Владимир.
"В своих работах мне хотелось показать Россию так, как воспринимает ее человек непредвзятый, - отметил он в беседе с корр.ИТАР-ТАСС. - Я давно уже обратил внимание на то, что в североамериканских средствах массовой информации Россию, как правило, изображают в мрачных тонах. Поэтому я посчитал себя обязанным продемонстрировать свои работы, на которых запечатлено то, что я видел сам. Когда я впервые побывал в России, я был поражен, ведь все оказалось совсем не так, как я ожидал. Да, 1990-е годы были хаотическими, однако дальнейшую пост-советскую историю России, как правило, изображают лишь в черно-белых тонах. В 2004 году я сам отправился в поездку по России и вынес позитивные впечатления. Та фотогалерея, которая получилась в результате - это отнюдь не некая "Библия" по России, а картина того, как страна выглядит с точки зрения канадца". --0--гд
|
|
Colours of Russia Launches on Russia: other points of view 9/14/09
TThe Colours of Russia initiative is welcomed to the influential Russia: other points of view website.
"I am honoured to be asked to contribute to this distinguished forum. In recent months Colours of Russia has reached many places and minds in the cause of cultural understanding. The invitation to ROPV is indicative of the need for positive and realistic imagery of Russia and the recognition of Colours of Russia as an effective tool for change"
Michael Hockney, The Studio of Michael Hockney
|
The Ivanov Report 9/16/09
"The True Colors of Quality Journalism"
Please, meet Michael Hockney, a Canadian photographer and the Artistic Director of the Project "Colours of Russia." Take a look at these pictures and enjoy the peculiar mixture of simplicity and sophistication created by the hand of an experienced professional:
(I'm certainly biased because the slide-show is full of pictures of my beloved St. Petersburg. Curiously, there are many images of weddings. Fits my own impression of St. Petersburg this summer: a lot of weddings and young moms with strollers.)
The "Colours of Russia" project (recently covered by Itar-Tass) is part of a broader campaign to fight country stereotypes created by the media. Russia -- obviously not spoiled by the abundance of objective coverage -- has been selected for the first release from The Colour Group. The ultimate goal of the project, as I understand it, is to cover as many cities and countries in the world as Michael and his partner William Zlatanov are able to travel to.
I want to thank The Colour Group for yet another opportunity to see Russia I know and love and I wish Michael and William many happy shots.
Or, borrowing the Russian line of the month:
The Colour Group, forward!
Colours of Russia 747 presented to Sochi 2014 in Vancouver 2/17/2010
Colours of Russia director Michael Hockney met with Sochi 2014 officials to present a copy of "Colours of Russia 747" to be used at "Russky Dom", the official headquarters of Sochi 2014 for the duration of The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
The Vancouver Sun- 5/3/2010
Colours of Russia Director Michael Hockney writes special feature article..
The link to the featured article above is
here
The original article which Colours of Russia responded to is
here.
Modern Russia- 9/1/2010
The eminent authority on modern Russia reports Colours of Russia
Modern Russia- Top Story 10/22/2010
Five Star rating-Culture and Society
By: Michael Hockney, artistic director and principal photographer, Colours of Russia on October 22, 2010
In 1971, at the age of 11, I took a friend of my father’s, a senior Soviet scientist, to downtown Reading, England, to buy Rolling Stones and Beatles albums. My father’s friend was planning to smuggle this music selection back to the USSR to satiate his need for Western music.
At the time, I experienced a certain sense of achievement, feeling very clever and mysterious. Looking back, what I experienced was an unexpected convergence of culture.
That day was indicative of what Russia would become – a modern society that blends rich historic culture with modernistic arts and popular culture. The Soviet Russia of 1971 is long gone. Still, the propaganda from that time persists so that most foreigners are in the dark about what Russia is like today.
More than 30 years later, the gap between dated perceptions and today’s reality is what spurred me to create Colours of Russia. Challenging some of the cultural and national stereotypes of Russia and Russians that continue to exist, my colleagues and I brought together a group of photographers to create a high-quality, on-line photo documentary and library of images of modern-day Russia that shatter the preconceived notions of people who don’t know what Russia looks like today. We built this on-line home to enlighten the rest of the world by showing images of Russian villages and cities as they currently exist. We wanted to construct a new and realistic visual portrait that would help shape positive perceptions.
What comes next for Colours of Russia?
There is so much more of Russia to showcase for the world. We are planning for a group of internationally accredited photographers to take foreigners on a visual journey that will capture the quintessential elements that characterize a modern country - industry, commerce, science, and the arts. The result will be the largest independent photo library of modern Russia. Then we plan to take that visual exhibition on a multi-continent tour, where thousands of images will become thousands of opportunities to replace uninformed pessimism with realistic optimism.
For a prospectus on how to become part of the Colours of Russia photo shoot or to view the Colours of Russia image gallery and documentary, I invite you to visit coloursofrussia.com.
