Andrey Luft
Andrey Luft was born in 1980 in Ekaterinburg.
He graduated as an actor from Ekaterinburg State University of Theater,
before getting interested in photography in 2003 and starting a professional career in 2004.
He's worked for numerous Russian TV channels, including TNT, Muz-TV,
Era-TV (regional MTV broadcaster in Ekaterinburg) and Zeppelin Productions.
Luft has also collaborated with many Russian socio-political and entertainment publications.
One Minute Before Glory
Minute of Glory is a TV program where any person can show their unique abilities. The main characters are people from small towns who dream of exhibiting their talents on the country's main TV channel. The first time I saw this show, I understood I had to get backstage. Later, it was announced on the news that one of the participants committed suicide because he hadn't reached the final. I made my final decision.
It took more than six months to shoot this series on the days of selection rounds and program recordings. It is based on photos from selection rounds — I was mainly interested in heroes who wouldn't appear on the TV screen. I sought to find the other side of this bright scenery. I can see the person at the crossroads of two epochs of the former USSR and our arising consumer society. The infinite corridors of the television centre, people exhausted with expectation. Everyone wants their share of happiness and glory. I can see the sad and lost, who haven't learnt to live in a new way; there is hope and hopelessness in this show. The drama of my heroes is silent like slow schizophrenia. It consists in their incapability to find themselves in today's reality.
It is an escape from reality to the world of imitations of happiness. I see countless people who are ready to scream to death in the studio for 10 dollars a day. Today's reality reminds me at times of a huge television studio, where we all play strange roles written by someone else. We are fed with a kind of fake joy in bright, colorful packaging.
Андрей Луфт. Из проекта За минуту до славы. 2010. Цветная печать. Различные размеры. Courtesy автор / Andrey Luft. From the One Minute Before Glory project. C-print. Various dimensions. Courtesy author