Photographs and text by Alexander Aksakov
Design by Valentina Abenavoli
Akina, 2013
Edition of 150 numbered copies
Screenprint cover on 1400 micron board, handbound coptic stitch
100 pp. full color printed on Fedrigoni Freelife Kendo 140 gsm, illustrated throughout
120 x 200 mm
“A cold winter was on its way.
We were given a uniform, a pair of boots, a box of dry rations
and a chance to pay our “debts” to the motherland.
No one was really sure if we had any,
but trying to avoid them was a bad idea“
Alexander Aksakov spent 365 days in a Russian military base during the compulsory draft. He managed to sneak in a Smena camera and some rolls of film and brought back a rare document of an unrequested rite of passage. In his silent diary Alexander recorded images of the long winter and its idle times inside the base, the bewildered faces of the recruits, the spring country outings with AK-74s, dreaming of running away. For the whole year he never saw the images he was taking. Now 365 is a book.
"The roughness of the images, the coarseness of the paper, the layout of the images and the seemingly incompleteness of the exposed, handmade binding – all of these work together to make 365 a precious object that will take you on a journey of darkness, fears and memories." -- Maria Teresa Salvati, Director of Slideluck London & Europe