Anna Hoffman: I have always followed my inner impulses. Photographer Anna Hoffman: “It's terrible that I say such things about my beloved city

Photographer Anna Hoffman: "It's terrible that I say such things about my beloved city"

Anna got such an impression of St. Petersburg a year and a half after her arrival in Moscow, where her business received a long-awaited impetus. Things went uphill, but the difference during the move affected not only business - the outlook on people and life in general also changed. Gone are superfluous people, mediocre conversations, annoying friends, entertainment. Is it worth moving from Petersburg, drowning in opera-ballets, to business Moscow - this is our conversation

Anna Hoffman- Moscow photographer from St. Petersburg, working in her own genre "theater of photography"; collaborated with "Sobaka.ru", Pirosmani, Asya Malbershtein, won a prize in 2015 international competition photos of IPA. Solo exhibitions: Laurent Godard in Paris, 2010, FotoLoft in Moscow and Carnegie Hall in New York, Arsenale di Venezia in Venice, 2015, and others.


Photo: From personal archive 1

"ZagraNitsa": How can one move from St. Petersburg to Moscow at all: doesn’t pull back?

Anna Hoffman: You can leave if you really want to work in a serious way. If you decided to completely rebuild your life and get away from idleness. Petersburg is beautiful for poets and dreamers. If you want to build a business, of course, you need to move to Moscow. Yes, there are also lazy and irresponsible people here, without this, nowhere, but there are much more opportunities. And Moscow itself is focused on quick decision-making, in contrast to St. Petersburg. Doesn't pull back, not at all. I think it will come, but later, when you want some respite. Not yet.

"ZagraNitsa": And how is it expressed: there are simply fewer professionals, personnel per capita, or is there really just a different air?

A.G .: Another mentality in St. Petersburg is simple. There are professionals and staff ... But life positions Petersburgers are different. It's perfectly normal for them to say, "Oh, you can do it next time or you can do it later ...". In Moscow "later" will not work. Procrastination in St. Petersburg is flourishing in full swing. And people capable and talented, constantly running into the indecision and laziness of others, fall into despondency. It's a vicious circle. If you want to achieve something, there must be like-minded people around you. As active and determined as you are. Otherwise, everything. You will get bogged down in a swamp of strangers "I'll think about your proposal in a couple of months" ... and go to a bar for a drink. You will scold, try to make decisions, drink, say that you will break the system ... and nothing. Nothing will happen either in a month or in a year. Tough, of course, but true. Well, this is my story, maybe someone else's.

Photo: From personal archive 3

"ZagraNitsa": And what is the nature of these reasons? In the soporific weather, architecture, a scattering of theaters, museums and, in general, a generous cultural and historical trail? But isn't that in Moscow? Or maybe the question is simply motivation: do they pay little? They would give that kind of money - and everything would work. No money in St. Petersburg? No investment?

A.G .: In Moscow, they do not look at beauty and, it is true, there is no time. There is no money in St. Petersburg, it is true. There are tortured people and endless aggression. And the barter system. Most people believe that everything should be done to them for free, ostensibly for PR. This is darkness. It's a vicious circle, again. As a result, you lose self-respect, self-esteem and feel like nothing. And no opera-ballets will pull you out of this situation. It's terrible that I say such things about my beloved city.


Moscow. Photo: From personal archive
Photo: From personal archive 4

"ZagraNitsa": It's terrible if you were lying.

A.G .: Moscow also has all this, and the barter system, and disrespect for other people's work, but Moscow has the strength to fight this. And if you fight, they start to reckon with you. Yes, you get aggressive, tough. But you do your job, it's priceless.

ZagraNitsa: It turns out that you can talk about changes in your work and creativity in general in St. Petersburg and Moscow?

ATTENTION!
Due to the singer's health condition, the concert is postponed to January 30.
Previously purchased tickets are valid. The beginning is also at 20:00.
Thank you for understanding!
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January 20 (Monday) at 20:00 in the book club-store "Vita Nova - Hyperion" performs Anna Hoffman with the program "Songs of the Mediterranean"... Entrance 400 rub.

Anna Goffman is a musician, designer, dancer, initiator and participant of the ROMANCERO SEFARDI and MAZAL BUENO ORQUESTA projects, performing music of Spanish Sephardic Jews, as well as author's compositions. Carefully selected music material and the texts of old songs, to this day, fascinate with their beauty.
The band members strive to preserve the original flavor and ancient traditions, bringing their own unique sound and arrangements. The songs performed by the collective sound in the language in which they were created - Ladino, Hebrew-Spanish.
By absorbing many cultures and weaving them into a single musical canvas, the musicians tell their fabulous story of the music of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and their own tunes. Here, the boundaries between authorial and traditional music are blurred ...


At the age of 8, Anna Goffman began studying at the theatrical studio "Zerkalo", then entered the Institute for the History of Cultures and the Moscow College of Art Crafts.
Member of the Moscow Designers' Union.
In 1996 she began to study the Indian classical dance Kathak at the Indian Embassy in Moscow and received a scholarship to further study in India with the renowned dancer and choreographer Birju Maharaj. After three years of study in India, she participated in numerous dance performances, both in India and in Russia, and collaborated with the Nritya Sabha Theater.
She studied various vocal styles, such as classical vocals at the private school of Marina Kikina (Moscow), flamenco vocals at master classes by Jesule de Utrera (Spain), master classes on Turkish classical vocal by Ahmet Erdogdular (Turkey).
She took part in the play "The Doors Wide Open" staged by choreographer Natalia Shirokova and performed by dancers of the Bolshoi Theater (Moscow),
Joint projects with the La Fragua flamenco group.
She performed with her ensemble both in Russia and abroad.
Laureate of the Golden Hanukkiah Prize 2007 (World Congress of Russian-speaking Jewry),
Participation in the Jewish cultural and educational project "Eshkol" 20072009
Festival "Empty Hills" 2007, 2008.
Festival of contemporary dance, Volgograd, 2008
Sacred Arts Festival Delhi, India February 2009
Sixth Eurasian Teleforum, Big Hall of the House of Cinema, Moscow, December 2009
Action "Peoples of the world are writing the Bible", Jewish Cultural Center, Moscow, February 2010
Flamenco Festival “Viva Espan ~ a”, RAMT, May 2010, Moscow.
Festival of Balkan Music, Moscow, 20111216
3rd International Ethnic Festival "Krutushka", Tatarstan, 2011
Festival of Jewish Ethnic Music, Jewish Cultural Center, Moscow 2011
Festival "Wild Mint" 2012
Festival "Ethnoplanet" Moscow 2012
Festival "Ethno Night" Perm 2012
Festival "Jewish Macam" (Eshkolot) Moscow 2012
International Jewish Music Festival Amsterdam 2012
Drum Festival "Drum Theater" Perm 2013
Festival "Krutushka" r. Tatarstan 2013

In 2013 ROMANCERO SEFARDI released their debut album “Juego de Siempre” via Sketis Music Russia.

“... she resembles the Old Testament heroines. The numbers of her trio are small performances, passionate and lyrical ... "
Marianna Belenkaya RIA news

“About Anna Hoffman, journalists write:“ Anna looked as if she had stepped off El Greco's paintings ”. This is absolutely, absolutely, hurtfully not so! Because she makes a much stronger impression. Alas, this cannot be conveyed by any photo ... "
Linor Goralik

"... A. Hoffman does not seek to modernize the melodies of ancient times, but tries to convey the sound that was when these songs were performed for the first time."
"Jewish News Agency"

Soon in the creative space of "KvARTir" personal exhibition Ani Hoffman with the intriguing title "Undress Katya for Me". Ahead of this event, Falovers spoke with a fashion photographer about creativity, inspiration and uncompromising beauty in the frame.

The fashion journey of photographer Anna Hoffman began just a few years ago. However, many interesting things happened during the journey with Anna: cooperation with Spanish magazines Verano and Magazine Fuera de Serie, work with St. Petersburg designers Olga Malyarova, Vladislav Aksenov, Natalia Mekler, Irina Tantsurina and participation in the Paris'20-09 biennial of Russian photography.

Anna's creativity amazes with transcendental emotionality. The photographer does not follow the established stereotypes of fashion photography - each frame refers to the long-forgotten (in this kind of creativity) theatricality, where there is poetry and painting, expression and sensuality, where every movement of the model is choreographed and carefully thought out, where there is nothing vague and random ...

Anya, why is this strange name Exhibitions?

This phrase was once said by an acquaintance of mine who was present at one advertising shoot. There was no erotic connotation in it. But at the moment when he pronounced it, I realized that the very process of actions and episodes called “Undress Katya for me” may well serve as the plot of my personal exhibition.

And what will it be about?

I am planning to sum up some creative result with the exhibition. The photographs presented there are portraits of people close to me. In fact, it will be an exhibition about friends and for friends. To tell the truth, I myself really want to look at my own works after a while and in a large format.(Smiles).

What happened before the exhibition?

The beginning of the creative path. I walked to him for a long time, but as soon as I took the camera in my hands, I immediately found myself and came true.

Theatricality is invariably present in your photographs. Moreover, it is affirmed as the unconditional value of your attitude. Is it difficult to find customers with such a perception of life?

I’ll say more: it’s not easy for me to live with it. It would be much easier if I just shoot beautiful models against a beautiful background. But I can get full creative satisfaction only from a complex theatrical shooting.

It is difficult to find like-minded customers - in pursuit of commercialization, people tend to simplify the language of photography. However, at the same time, very many people love all these "threadlike clouds at the decorative sunset."

And how, in this case, to maintain a balance between the artistic value of the image and its commercial component?

I really think that fashion photography needs theater, that theater photography will sell the thing. The emaciated photographs are already boring. And the industry needs something that will stop the consumer's eyes for a long time. In the end, there is always a place for a simple bow-book, shot according to the classic canons of advertising photography. But should photographs be faceless pictures? - that's the question.

But what about the compromise?

I am ready to make some concessions to the customer, but I am not ready for dishonesty towards myself.

So, after all, painting and Shakespearean dramas are in the frame?

What is your inspiration?

It has no form, no quality ... I can be inspired by absolutely everything: movements, sounds. Yes, music immerses me in some kind of meditative state, from which I emerge with a ready idea.

And what happens to you the moment you catch inspiration by the tail?

I, like Tarantino Colonel Hans Landa, speak bluntly: "bingo!"(Laughs)

How long does it take between the maturation of an idea and its implementation?

O! I had a case when a year has passed. I agree to wait if need be. Naturally, when something is invented, I immediately want to implement it, if not the next day, but in a week. After all, not only I need to prepare. The hero of the shooting must also feel the idea, experience important moments, feel an inner click, after which he will say to me: "I'm ready, take pictures."

By the way, I've always wondered how to say it correctly: a photo session or a photography?

Shooting. I have this shooting. Not a photo session at all - I mean a short piece of time in this concept when you just shoot a model in various poses. But I always have a serious and meaningful process that requires full commitment from me and all its participants.

How do you get people to fulfill their assigned tasks? After all, as I understand it, you often work with non-professional models.

At first, it seemed to me that I was doing some terrible things: I was "getting into" a person, torturing him, manipulating him. But over time, I began to notice that people are imbued with the mood of shooting without my pressure on their minds. It so happens that at some point they are completely included in the plan and release the emotions I need.

How long does it take for you to shoot?

Three to fifteen hours.

Until fifteen?

Yes. In this regard, I absolutely agree with Diana Arbus. She said that she did not believe the photographer, who said that he could make a portrait in half an hour. But emotionally, for me personally, it makes no difference how much I shoot: three hours, five, twelve ... After shooting, the entire energy reserve flies out.

And how, then, do you replenish your resources?

I sleep and dream.(Smiles).

Anya, how do you feel about criticism?

If they tell me frankly nasty things, I do not react in any way, but I am ready for constructive criticism of authoritative people.

In this case, whose opinion is authoritative for you?

I will be happy to hear an assessment from my relatives, and the opinion of my father is especially significant for me, from the teachers of the Academy of Arts, from my best friend - the curator of the Yekaterinburg Museum of Contemporary Photography. There is always validity, constructiveness and, most importantly, meaning in their words.

Do you hang out with the local photography crowd?

No. Probably, I’ll say badly now, but I don’t need these people.

But what about the exchange?

Knowledge, moods, emotions, energies?

If i need technical knowledge, I will draw them from the books of classical photographers: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton. If I suddenly need innovations, I will open the latest issue of Italian Vogue.

Do you have, shall we say,must-have a fashion photographer: work there, shoot for that?

It seems to me that the must-have of any fashion photographer is Vogue magazine.

What are your plans for the future?

Shoot and travel.

In what three words would you describe the photographer Anna Hoffman?

What a good question! Let me think ... Fanatical non-sweet, savoring life with little sips of beauty. It seems that I did not fit in three words.

You can get acquainted with Anna's work here: vk.com/annagofman

Anna Hoffman

My name is Anna Hoffman. I am an artist, designer, musician. I make ceramic panels, clay and silver jewelry in the author's technique, linocuts, I draw. I like to tell a story in every thing - through an ornament, through a color combination ... I draw and sculpt nature, outlandish animals and birds, fairytale heroes... I love antiquity, archaism, I take my inspiration from the applied art of the whole world, a complete mixture of cultures: here are my three years in India (I studied there the classical Indian dance Kathak), and mine musical activity(with my ensemble I perform music of Sephardic Jews in the old Hebrew-Spanish language "Ladino", songs of my own composition, as well as songs from all over the world in different languages).

Over time, my works became smaller and smaller, and I realized that I had discovered a new approach to clay - as a jewelry material! Well, since I got acquainted with Japanese silver clay, the combination of silver and clay became for me that decisive fact that propelled me in my idea jewelry with carved ceramics.

I started making jewelry, and my goal was to bring ceramics into jewelry and I thought that I had coped with the task. But having received the result with silver, I realized that I was giving up ... Metal as a decoration is an unsurpassed material ... And if it is also metal clay!

Anna Hoffman is an amazing person. Beautiful, graceful, talented and versatile. Artist, designer, singer and founder of the musical groups Romancero Sefardi and Mazal Bueno Orquesta.

In her own words, everything that she managed to try in different creative fields would be enough for several women.

On the eve of the first autumn concert, we talked about the various facets of Anna's talent, her passion for mysterious Sephardic music and musical projects.

Anna Rzhevina: Anna, you are a musician, artist, designer, dancer. Besides, she is a mother of two children. How do you manage to combine so much in yourself?


Anna Hoffman: I have always followed my inner impulses and desires to do something. First I learned to draw, then I learned to dance, then to sing, everything went gradually. When I decided that in the end, I still want to do many areas, I realized that I had to learn to either combine them, or choose something. At the same time, I could not imagine that I quit singing and sit at home, doing only applied art, or vice versa. Although dances have suffered, I have not been doing them for a long time. Now I strive to devote the same amount of time to what I definitely cannot live without. For example, I'm preparing for a concert, but at the same time I create something with my hands (smiles).

AR: Did you dream of being an artist as a child?


A.G .: I wanted to be an artist. I went to the children's theater studio for a long time. I started painting only at the age of 16. And it turned out that this has become one of my professions. I entered the Moscow College of Arts and Crafts. She studied for a year, received a red diploma, it is issued there for each year of study. Then, in the late 90s, the first clubs began to open in Moscow, the first interesting people in this area appeared, and I was lucky to work with Andrei Bartenev for a couple of years. We worked in a workshop, he created his collections, and we performed them technically. And then, since I still dreamed of becoming a model, and with a height of 163 cm it did not "shine" for me (smiles), it turned out that I satisfied this need as well, working on the podium. Then we met Andrey Meshkov, he made a collection of interesting hats, and we also wore them on the catwalk. It was a busy, good time.

AR: Now you are realizing yourself as a jewelry designer. How did you get the idea of ​​just such a form of interaction with ceramics?


A.G .: I started with very large forms - I painted ceilings, created huge panels of plaster, ceramic panels, but then I realized that I am, in fact, a miniaturist. And, continuing to engage in ceramics, I came to jewelry. Although no one perceives clay in such a quality, I built ceramics for myself into jewelry material, which has become an expensive work. Now I'm just starting to develop this theme and want to make a collection. I found my own equipment that I can use with pleasure.

AR: Then, as I know, you studied Kathak dance at the Indian Embassy in Moscow and received a scholarship to further study in India. Was it interesting to study directly in the environment where this dance originated?


A.G .: Indian dance and a trip to India is such a huge part of my life! This is a gigantic experience. The happiest and worst moments of my life happened there. When I went there, having received a scholarship in 1999, India was not at all what India is now, especially for Russians. Of the Russians, there were only "shuttle traders" who went to buy goods, and such "crazy" students like me, who studied dance, were the most complete fanatics. It was shock therapy, akin to which I have never had anything else in my life. I arrived there, did not know anyone. It was necessary to completely arrange your life from scratch.

AR: But was it interesting?


A.G .: Interesting - this is not the right word. This is shock, suffering, and incredible joy. You are tempt fate, in fact. Because sometimes, except for fate, there is nothing to rely on. You need to find where to live, understand how to get to school, what to eat and what not to eat. To understand each person - he is deceiving you, or he is your friend. For me it was a test of strength. And at the same time, I ended up in school with the best choreographer in India in the style that I studied. It was Pandit Birju Maharaj. The star, the guru, the person who is worshiped. When it comes to training, it was exciting, amazing, and terribly humiliating. Such is the ego training that I could not stand in the end. After 2.5 years, I said: "That's it, I can't take it anymore." But at the same time, I made such friends there, whom I still remember with the brightest feelings. We continue to maintain our relationship. After training, we went there for a very long time - Gena had musical projects (Gennady Lavrentiev - spouse, musician-multi-instrumentalist), I also performed sometimes.

AR: Did you start singing from childhood or at a conscious age?


A.G .: Yes, since childhood I sang in the school choir, but I began to study seriously much later, with MA Kikina, the mother of the singer Mila Kikina. I started with classical vocals, studied for three years, and then I realized that I wanted to sing on stage, and this manner does not suit me at all. I started looking for ways of development, first by myself, then I managed to take flamenco vocal master classes, then I attended a seminar on Turkish classical vocal in Crete. All this came in handy, because the repertoire of our team is very diverse. I like everything (laughs), and I want everything. Until now, I continue to study, search and develop.

AR: You are the initiator and vocalist of the ROMANCERO SEFARDÍ project, which plays the music of Spanish Jews - Sephardi. Tell us about the idea of ​​creation and the music?

A.G .: I have always been close to Middle Eastern, Mediterranean music, but at the same time I wanted, in principle, some kind of Jewish repertoire for myself, and the culture of klezmer, the culture of Yiddish never attracted me. And the Sephardim turned out to be the quintessence of what I needed. A beautiful language, Ladino, is a medieval Hebrew-Spanish language with a very beautiful pronunciation close to Portuguese. After the expulsion, the Sephardic people retained this language, medieval ballads, their own culture, but at the same time, as musicologists say, music does not belong to the people, it belongs to the region. Lyrics tend to last longer than music. And they filled the local music of the region where they ended up with these lyrics. It turned out that Turkish Sephardim play Turkish music, Moroccan - Moroccan, Balkan - Balkan, etc. The Sephardic repertoire is very different from region to region, so all this heritage can be collected like a cultural mosaic. It attracted me very much, and I did it.

AR: In 2013 you recorded your debut album. How is it, and in general, your music is received in Russia and abroad?


A.G .: We received a grant from the New York UJA Federation and recorded an album. We have accumulated very beautiful material, in our own arrangements, which we considered worthy to be identified as part of this culture. People not only in Russia, but also in Latin America, and in Spain began to learn about us and find on the Internet, and gave a high assessment. I was found by an Argentinian who has his own radio "Folclorica" ​​in Buenos Aires. He really liked our CD and made a wonderful program about us, which was very pleasant. Then our album was sent to the Spanish radio "Mundofonías", which broadcasts to the entire Spanish-speaking world, and it became the favorite of March. Then we were even nominated for Album of the Year.

AR: Anna, in your second project, MAZAL BUENO ORQUESTA, most of the musicians from the first project are involved. How is it different from ROMANCERO SEFARDI?


A.G .: These are, in general, the same musicians. Our composition periodically changed, expanded, but some backbone has always remained the same. For two years or more we have not collaborated with a great drummer, Mario Caldararu, but on September 6th we will be happy to play with him again. Our sound remains unchanged, it is recognizable. I cannot say that this is a radically different team. The Mazal Bueno Orquesta project became quite a logical "continuation" of the ideas of my first project, because Sephardi music covers a huge region, and it is very different. For example, if I sing a Sephardic song, which is a rebetiko translated Greek song into Ladino, it was natural for me to sing a real Greek rebetiko as it sounds in Greece. Or if it was a Sephardic song of Turkey, then it is only natural to sing a real Turkish song. Rather, the ethnic composition has expanded, and the songs, in general, are from the same region. I sometimes try to "jump" somewhere in Latin America or India, but to a lesser extent. And I also wanted to supplement our repertoire with songs of my own composition, which began to appear in small numbers. The Sephardic project was very limited by subject matter, I felt cramped in it, tired of keeping the rigid style. Therefore, we went more into the “world music” genre in order to expand the boundaries of our creativity.

AR: There are amazing masters, talented multi-instrumentalists in your team. How does it work with the male team?


A.G .: Great. It is happiness to work with them. I am very grateful to them for the fact that they respond every time, come to rehearse, play our almost free concerts. I don't know why they do it ... they probably like to play with me too (laughs). As musicians, they are interested in it. The music is interesting and complex. For example, it was not so easy for Gennady from the beginning. Firstly, he is a composer, he loves to play his own music, and secondly, he is not a song musician, but rather an instrumentalist. But gradually I felt this music, I got involved. Oleg Maryakhin, Dmitry Ignatov are absolutely brilliant musicians. Everyone plays a lot of instruments. Again, Mario Caldararu - everyone knows him too, with whom he played and where he participated. Yiannis Kofopoulos is the new vocalist of our project.

AR: By the way, tell us about your collaboration with the Greek singer and percussionist Yannis Kofopoulos.


A.G .: Yannis is an amazing singer. For us, this meeting is very significant and valuable, because he is the bearer of exactly the culture that we broadcast. We think that we understand it well, but we are only secondary in this. It is a fact. And the appearance of Giannis gave a kind of second wind to the project. And the songs that we perform with him, I might never have found without him, but they are very beautiful.

AR: It remains only to hear them live. When and where will the next concert take place?

Interviewed Anna Rzhevina
Photo by Alexander Ov-Lebedev

 

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