I AM WHO I AM

DMITRY TRUSOV

// Dmitry is a Russian artist and photographer from St. Petersburg with a Master of Fine Arts. We present one of his new art projects, conceptual photography that deals with the 2020/21 pandemic-induced lockdown. He went out to photograph the world in his city, in his mind questioning the role of self-determination in the confined space of one city.

Dmitry´s paintings have been exhibited in St. Petersburg, and his photography has been published in a number of online magazines. In 2021 he participated in the group exhibition “Gatherings of Visions“, a conceptual photography show at Hazegallery Berlin.

“Art is not in the … eye of the beholder. It’s in the soul of the artist.”

Seth Godin

What draws you to the arts?

“I’ve been doing art almost all my life … it’s just like breathing to me …”

What was the impetus for the conceptual photography project you shared with us?

“With a deep conviction that the world around me is just a reflection of myself, I began to stare around me.”

The aftertaste of 2020 for Dmitry is a heightened sense of boundaries. “Locked in a house, city, country … I have become mothballed, closed in myself. Looking in the mirror and thinking about the walls and gates …”

Is it possible to get out of the dungeons of oneself? Seeing a landscape other than your own?

As a result of working on this project, from a huge amount of footage, Dmitry developed an intimate process of self-awareness. The scenery of this performance is St. Petersburg, the photographer´s hometown: its streets, apartments, townspeople, cafes and offices, and the character questions himself and his place.

“Feeling that I live in a huge strange world of my own reflection, consisting of many artifacts of my images and memories, I began to record them on camera,” he says.

The project was run as a photo diary, as he went about his daily life, camera in hand.

Photos may be cropped for layout. Click on the photos to see the full images and their titles.