Russian Photographer Dmitri Markov: A Voice for the Silenced
By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad
The Legendary Russian photographer 41-year-old Dmitri Markov died on 16th February. The brilliant photographer not only excelled in his art and represented the equivalent of Repin in the art of photography but was a great advocate for the homeless. He was a true friend of the insulted and the injured. He always put others first. His early death comes as an immense loss not only to the world of art but to countless people. He was a conspicuous part of the social conscience of Russia.
He will be greatly missed. But his legacy lives on through his outstanding photographs!
The Russian Cartier Bresson, Ilya Repin and Caravaggio—those are the artists which people have compared Dmitri Markov to. The late photographer's photos remain striking images of special moments or scenarios which sum up not only the complexity of Russian life but the people whom he observed and adored. For instance, while under detention in a Moscow court he managed to surreptitiously photograph a well-armored policeman clad in a balaclava guarding them in 2021. The photo personified a country in the rigid and hardened grip of a police state.
Another photo shows a monk casually taking a huge pig for a walk and another of an 18-year-old orphan having his hair cut before being released from the orphanage. Some photos are very poignant in showing the audacity of children swinging through the air or simply two young girls who are staring back at the photographer in shy amusement or awkwardness. Markov stated he wanted to capture the sense of fragility and vulnerability which comes from children who can rashly think they are immortal. They try to fly high on swings or do reckless roof -jumping.
What is refreshing about his photographs is that unlike so many photos by professionals they are not pretentious or stage managed but are genuine. There is a real and rare integrity about his art. It is not surprising that he had 1 million followers on social networks. He was invited to art exhibitions in Russia and all around the World. Yet the artist preferred to return to live in his home town of Pskov—near the border with Ukraine.
Markov once stated, “While justice is in the realm of the devil , mercy and charity is in the realm of God.” I have wondered what he meant by this. Did he mean that people are so inept that they can't properly judge people? I think he meant that God was far more forgiving and loving that any person and that Christians have to forgive people.
In Bulgakov's novel 'The Master and Margarita,' the Devil Woland comes to Moscow to enforce his own kind of justice on people he encounters and dislikes in Moscow. But in this complex novel, Woland agrees to grant mercy to the servant Frieda he has been punishing for murdering her baby when Margarita appeals to him.
The photographer combined his photography with philanthropy only agreeing to become part of a documentary on condition they interviewed local people such as the disabled, the homeless and people struggling against grim poverty in the provinces around Russia. He volunteered to assist and advocate for the homeless and poor…
Perhaps this is why some Russians compare him to the painter Repin who also strove to expose the injustice and grim life of Russia. Like Repin, he could face a lot of indignation and anger from people who claimed he was showing only Russia's darker side. However, this reaction misses the mark. Markov's photos also show the joy and peaceful moments people found in the lives despite so much hardship.
His photos recognize the full complexity and diversity of Russian life which can't be reduced to crude caricatures or stereotypes which come across in crass Hollywood films and media reports. A director of the Russian theater stated if you want to understand Russians you should look at his photos.
Markov worked as a volunteer to help the homeless at a shelter in the town of Kostroma which gave shelter to around 30 homeless people. The shelter was organized by the charity Nochlezhka…
Markov got to know one volunteer at the center who was a war veteran who had done twenty years time in prison for theft and mugging. He told Markov and others that he was helping the homeless to 'atone for his past sins.'
Markov himself became addicted to drugs but managed to quit the habit. He told journalists how he and so many young people first took drugs such as hash and then later went on take hard drugs such as heroine. He spoke about situations in villages where practically all the young people were on drugs or alcohol. Young people in many Russian villages had practically no work prospects. They could either join the army, take to crime or scrape together money to buy drink or drugs. When there is work available it is often low paid.
In a word, there are just no decent well-paid jobs in many villages. Many people try to escape from those devastated villages to Moscow which represents a beacon of another more vibrant and alluring life. But without a proper trade or documents things can easily go very awry.
Markov was one of the few artists who sought to raise awareness of the injustice of poverty, homelessness and the grim despair which went with it. He wanted people to address and help people who are too often marginalized , forgotten and overlooked. This is unwelcome to many people. When you mention the word homeless to people they can respond, "I don't want to speak about this"…" Let us change the topic" …or worse: "Those people only have themselves to blame. They don't want to work. They just drink all the time."
In Moscow you have a kind of 'institutionalized escapism.' Many people prefer to escape by playing video games, visiting social networks or amusing themselves or losing themselves in their work. Others work so hard they are too exhausted to do practically anything. Of course while this escapism is understandable as some of those problems are really painful to acknowledge never mind tackle—they won't go away. Markov noted a fatalism where so many people felt it did not matter what they did or said, nothing would really change. You frequently hear the words in Moscow and beyond "I don't do anything or express an opinion because nothing I do or say will change this state of affairs." Even Markov admitted in interviews to feeling a sense of despondency where he could see no real improvement or solution to problems.
A homeless advocate once stated that when you put two charity boxes into a shop for people to drop in donations of cash where one is for homeless people and the other for homeless animals, at the end of the day you will notice while the former is practically empty the latter is crammed full of cash. And In Moscow I have noticed so many people going out and feeding cats, pigeons and ducks in a pond,
but few pay attention or give much help to a homeless person who puts out his hand in vain when people pass him or her by.
When you watch some films where Markov is interviewed, he comes across as a polite, pleasant, kind, thoughtful and softly spoken person who had been through a lot himself.
Photography can play a very profound role in assisting the homeless. A good photo of a homeless person can remind others that they are living icons. While I worked with the homeless at the turn of the century in Moscow many of the homeless I knew later died of either illness or were beaten to death by police or criminal elements. Those victims left no possessions. They were not even buried or granted a gravestone. They would have been forgotten if it had not been for the photos some photographers had taken! In a sense, those victims live on in the photos!
The power of photography in remembrance of the simple person was mentioned by the historian A.J.P. Taylor in his Illustrated History of the First World war where he stated, “The Unknown soldier was the hero of the First World War. He was vanished, except as a cipher, from the written records. He lives again in the photographs” {See Preface to A.J.P . Taylor's ‘The First World War: An Illustrated History,’ London: Penguin Books, 1966}.
The unknown heroism of the homeless can also live on in a well-taken photo. That is why photographers such as Dmitri Markov are so exceptional.
His work remains a living legacy of burning spirituality in a bleak world.