Rafal Milach

‘Young Russia’

Rafal Milach began his photographic experiment about Russia in 2004. From his first visit he perceived the impossibility of a foreigner from the west of understanding this most complex of countries. For this reason he selected a sample of the population, from which the ‘Young Russia’ project developed. In this photographic essay, Milach photographs the Russians who form the new middle class, a phenomenon, and social position that is difficult to clearly define. A class formed by young people accustomed to a culture of open borders and the cultural domination of the west.

Milach has photographed the daily life of young people all over the country, with special emphasis on the cities of Siberia. Initially he intended to cover as many situations as possible, but, with each new visit, he found himself photographing the same people, until many of them ended up becoming friends. Milach realised then that he had found his own heroes. Young people between the ages of 20 and 30, each with their own private story, say more about the Russian younger generation than a thousand random images. With In Progress he presents the latest multimedia version of this essay, a series of slides and images set to music.

Background

Gliwice, Poland, 1978

Rafal Milach attended the Katowice Fine Arts Academy, where he took a Masters in Fine Arts in 2002. He also graduated in Photography from the Institute of Creative Photography (ITF) in Opava, the Czech Republic, in 2003. The following year he was invited to participate in a project aimed at promoting emerging photo journalists from Eastern and Central Europe, organised by VII Photo Agency from France.

In 2006 he was given the Austrian KulturKontakt grant. The following year Milach took part in the Joop Swart Masterclass, organised by the World Press Photo foundation in Amsterdam. He has participated in various collective exhibitions, and has won numerous international and national prizes with his work.In 2002 he published The Grey, the fruit of a long term project about Upper Silesia one of the most industrialised and ecologically devastated areas of Poland.