Mikola Peotr Oreshkin – An Interview

Upon his graduation from the London School of Economics in 1999, Mikola Peotr Oreshkin eschewed a leading position in his family’s multi-billion dollar corporation for life on the high seas. His luxurious 34-meter ocean-going vessel, dubbed ‘Northern Spirit’, has since taken him to over 50 countries on six continents. Using his camera, Oreshkin has undertaken an ambitious body of photographic work that reflects the Russian artist’s intriguing personality while poignantly commenting on the ‘global’ state of contemporary society. Seth High interviewed him during a recent visit to Hong Kong.

SH: To begin with, can I ask you what brings you to Hong Kong during the typhoon season? Do you have an exhibition?

MPO: Actually, typhoon season has pretty much passed. In fact, October is about the perfect time to sail the South China Sea. And no, I don’t have any shows planned until the winter. I’m just here to do some shopping, meet a couple of friends, and you know… get some exercise, eat some fresh seafood, hit the bars.

SH: It seems to me that you have been spending a lot of time in Asia the past few years…

MPO: Well, I guess that’s true. You know, I try to be as democratic as possible about where I visit… I mean, I hope to eventually see every corner of the globe. However, Asia is particularly interesting to me these days due to its economic growth and of course all the changes that money inevitably brings. Even in the seven years since I started traveling, cities such as Dalian, Macau, Mumbai and Jakarta have been almost completely transformed. Considering that my projects largely deal with how cities have been changed by global culture, Asia is such an exciting place to be. I mean, this restaurant itself - was it here a year ago? I don’t think so. This whole block was under construction 18 months ago. Of course there is also the fact that I absolutely love shopping in so-called ‘new Asia’. Cities like Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo import almost anything that I would want from Europe or North America. Yet they also have so much more, you know – from traditional tools and fabrics to contemporary designer products. I always find heaps of interesting things.

SH: Have you bought anything so far on this trip?

MPO: (laughs) Despite having arrived just yesterday afternoon, I have already picked up, lets see… I bought several boxes of fruit- melons, melons and more melons, a bottle of red Chinese wine, a poster of Mao from the 50’s, a 19th century bible decorated in gold leaf, a few rolls of colored tape, packages of hand-made paper, a stuffed toy panda, a pair of Levis, some moon cakes from Wing Wah and Maxim’s, stationary from ‘Goods of Desire’, which is my favorite Hong Kong store by the way, and let’s see…

SH: That’s some serious shopping! How do you manage? Do you have everything you buy sent to your ship, or do you carry it with you?

MPO: Because the marina isn’t considered a fixed address, I can’t have it sent. That is why I always go shopping with an assistant or two. If things become too much to carry I send an assistant back to the boat. And yes, I know it sounds a little excessive. However, I don’t get so much pleasure from the act of buying things. Almost all of the pleasure comes from composing still-lifes and taking the photographs. You know, shopping is business, not pleasure! (laughs)

SH: Speaking of your still-life work, when you purchase something, are you already imagining how you will be photographing it? In other words, do you buy things you like or do you buy things in order to photograph them?

MPO: I guess kind of both. I would like to be able to say that I simply buy the things I like, but that would kind of be dishonest. I do my best to buy things that truly interest me. However, I sometimes come across something while shopping that I know will work well in a picture… and can’t help myself. This morning for example… there is no way that my staff and I will be able to eat 40 moon cakes before they expire. However, seeing all of the beautiful moon cakes at Wing Wah made me start imagining how they would look next to my Swedish wooden shoes or on top of my hand-dyed Jamaican bed sheets… or combined with a collection of designer belts…

SH: Before we start going off on tangents, which I think we both enjoy, why don’t you explain your photographs for those who are not familiar with your work.

MPO: Explain my photographs… (laughs)

SH: I’m sorry. I guess I should be a little more specific. Can you perhaps talk about how you originally became interested in photography and traveling, and then maybe go into the rules you placed on yourself? I know you have probably talked about this about a thousand times.

MPO: Well, I have taken thousands of photographs and they continue to interest me, so why should talking about my pictures be any different? I mean, I don’t mind at all because I have found talking about my work to be both a sort of reaffirmation of what I am trying to accomplish as well as a creative process in itself, you know, ‘thinking out loud’ as they say. It is often pointed out to me that I have a habit of contradicting myself. It bothered me for a while, but I now feel that our contradictions only prove that we are living, growing beings. So I might tell you something that totally goes against everything I said the last time we met. (laughs) Anyways, to answer your question… When I began traveling, I had no real interest in photography except in the purely touristy sense, I mean, though I recognized that pictures could be taken with an artistic sensibility, I only wanted to take some snapshots to send to friends and also to remind me of my travels later on. You know, photography as proof of adventure and as memory aid. As a child, my father took many pictures during his diplomatic and business trips abroad. Images of the world outside of the Soviet Union held such a fascination for me. The expensive gifts I received from Paris, Mexico and Beijing never captured my imagination as much as the colorful snapshots of shiny Cadillacs, luxurious hotels, and towering monuments such as the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower and Disneyland Castle. My father’s pictures are probably the root of both my interest in travel as well as my interest in photography. And as for my interest in the ocean, that comes from growing up in a villa on the outskirts of Southern Moscow. Though I had many things in abundance, the ocean was not one of them. It represented the freedom and mystery that I longed for. Being the son of nomenklatura, you know, a powerful member of the Communist Party and Polituburo, it was considered dangerous to let me experience life in public. In fact, as the rest of the Soviet Union was experiencing Gorbachev’s glasnost, I was experiencing the exact opposite. The more my family’s fortunes grew, the fewer times each month I was able to leave the estate… I’m starting to get off topic. Photography, right?

SH: No, this is wonderful background. Can I ask you about… at what time during your studies at LSE did you decide that you would rather travel the world than take over your family’s business interests? And how did your family handle your decision?

MPO: Maybe halfway through I guess. It is often assumed that I rejected entering my family’s firm because I have no interest in natural gas and aluminum, or you know, business and economics, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I largely decided to avoid a career as a businessman due to my interest in economics. During my studies at LSE, I became skeptical as to whether international business was having an entirely positive impact on the world. While in many ways it is great how the world is, to use a cliché, ‘coming closer together’, but I guess I also see so much of what is interesting about the world… unique culture that took centuries to develop disappearing with each sip of a Starbucks latte… And yes, I am one of the people sipping them! (laughs) I thought I could escape the materialism my education taught me to feel ashamed of.

SH: Do you see the world as being much more materialistic than it used to be?

MPO: Not at all. Humans have always had a tough time differentiating between want and need. Conformity is nothing new either. The world has always been extremely materialistic. Besides, with my shopping habits, I am the last person qualified to criticize materialism or even capitalism for that matter. What I am trying to say is that all of the wonderful economics, sociology and anthropology courses I took at LSE showed me that I couldn’t simply jump into a career that would force me to place profits as an objective from start. That would not have made me a happy person. That would not have made me a better person. I needed to look around, you know, see the world for myself. As for my family, although it was quite a fight at first, even my father came around to understand this. He wouldn’t have paid for my boat otherwise. (laughs) I am not trying to ‘attack’ anything with my life decisions or with my artwork. I am trying to make some observations about economics, culture, aesthetics, contemporary design, the beauty of the ocean and a million other things… I am also trying to come to terms with my ambitions… find myself by going to new places…

SH: So you decided to photograph things based on a set of rules…

MPO: Before that, and very importantly, like I said earlier, I photographed the cities I visited. I used my digital camera to take hundreds of photos of each city. I took so many photos of the people, buildings, roads, sky, trees… garbage, parking lots, storefronts, food… pretty much everything. I filled up entire shelves with photo albums from dozens of cities. I photographed everything and anything that interested me. Then one day, as I was going over an album of photographs I took in Hamburg with my lover at that time, trying to explain to her why I took each picture… and I suddenly made several realizations. One, I took pretty much the same photos of each city because of my artistic tendencies as well as the fact that I found pretty much the same material things in each city. And two, I would probably enjoy the cities I visited more if I didn’t try to photograph the hell out of them. I needed to see them through my own eyes, not through the perspective of a Nikkor lens.

SH: And this led you to photographing only on the boat?

MPO: Yes, but not suddenly. I initially thought I would quit taking pictures altogether, or perhaps only take pictures of the ocean. Then one night, sitting in my cabin, I decided to photograph the unopened package of pink chopsticks that were sitting on top of my sleek Bang & Olufsen stereo. I found the combination both humorous and aesthetically pleasing. Here was modern Danish design, a machine that I bought in San Diego at quite an expense, paired with traditional eating utensils from Asia, which are now available in hot pink due to some global, or I don’t know, perhaps even local trend. I mean, I picked up the chopsticks in Sydney of all places, at a 99 cent store, but it could have been anywhere. All of these contrasts intrigued me. The fact that I was 800 kilometers from any continent at the time wasn’t lost on me, either. I mean, I was in the middle of the bloody Atlantic Ocean! (laughs)

SH: So originally, your still-life photographs weren’t intentionally staged?

MPO: No. Not in the very beginning. However, when I made port in Miami. I quickly bought some colored sheets of paper that I could use as a background as well as a tripod. Within two weeks of my first boat photographs, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do.

SH: And that was?

MPO: What I am still doing today. (laughs) I decided that my boat would be a sort of Noah’s ark of global products. I’m just kidding. Sorry for the bad analogy. I decided that if countries and cities were trying to become one and the same, I would stop trying to photograph them as unique places. In fact, I decided that I would stop photographing them at all. I carried the products of a global economy to places where they were isolated from any ‘culture’, and photographed them… Since September 28th, 2000, every photograph I have taken has been in international waters… except of course for my photographs of water.

SH: Did any other factors go into your decision?

MPO: Millions. I mean, to me, this is not some purely conceptual project. Of course, I was intrigued by how the rules I established for my photography could be interpreted conceptually and politically. However, I was equally interested in finding ways to keep myself entertained during open sea voyages… DVDs start to get old after a while. There is also the aesthetic aspect. Since my mother dragged me to the Pushkin as a child, I have had an interest in pictures… you know colors and compositions. Living in London only made this passion stronger.

SH: How do you establish that you are in international waters? Is it just a guess?

MPO: Usually not. The ‘Northern Spirit’ has a very competent captain. He has all the charts and navigational equipment to know exactly where we are. Needless to say, in post 9-11 times you always need to know exactly where you are. (laughs)

SH: You mentioned your photographs of water. Are they an intentional contrast to your still-life photography?

MPO: Once again, yes and no. I actually make concrete rules to govern my photography because I am not a ‘concrete’ kind of person. I recognize that there is almost never a single reason or motivation behind any of the things I do. Therefore, establishing rules kind of gives me freedom. I mean, I establish rules so I can think about other things. I have complete freedom within the rules. Back to your question… as for the water photographs, their genesis comes from my love of water, its colors and its forms. Though not seriously, I have actually been photographing water since I moved to London in 1993. My flat overlooking the Thames allowed me to see how the water changed its appearance in relation to the weather, season… and perhaps even my mood. I was shocked when I later saw Roni Horn’s Thames photographs at the Photographer’s Gallery. I was like, ‘I’ve been fucking doing this for 5 years!’ Actually, it was that exhibition that first showed me that I might have some artistic sensibility. Yet, the water photographs do create a definite, I don’t know, maybe ‘equilibrium’ with the still-lifes. The water photographs are all taken near land or within territorial waters, which are technically owned by countries or governments. But water can’t really be owned… its origins and movement come from something so much larger and stronger than any country.

SH: While I find your photographs very attractive, I notice that you don’t place much emphasis on trying to take technically beautiful photographs. I imagine you could afford specialized equipment if you wanted. Why do continue to use, to put it bluntly, amateur equipment?

MPO: It is very important to me that the content of my images be more important than their technical qualities. Yes, technical aspects do help to support content. But I have always loved photographs that anyone could have taken… technically speaking. Of course, I also love beautifully produced medium and large format images… Edward Weston, Andreas Gursky, the Bechers… it is inspiring work. However, most people would never have the chance to test their sensibilities with such equipment. An artist should be able to make works of value using even the cheapest and least sophisticated materials. And as far as size is concerned, I don’t plan on making prints larger than 30x40 centimeters… as long as they look okay in publications. (laughs)

SH: So you will continue to use a digital camera for all of your work?

MPO: My water photographs are actually taken with a 35mm film camera, a Contax G-1 to be precise. However, all of my still-life photographs are done with a point and shoot digital camera. While I hope digital technology continues to develop, I have never felt that digital images are unsatisfactory. It is true that their colors are not always accurate and that they can’t describe textures as well as fine film cameras. But when all is said and done, they pretty much represent the objects that I want to photograph. There are also many practical reasons for using digital cameras on a boat. I don’t have a darkroom on board, but I do have a Mac. Working on the photos in Photoshop or even just within iphoto gives me something to do. In addition, due to the ships motion in open sea, more than half of the photos I take are blurry, even when I use a tripod. Using film would be so wasteful. No matter how many exposures I took, I would never be sure that I was getting a crisp photo. Using film would also force me to stay ashore longer in order to wait for development to be finished. With the water photographs, this is no problem. They don’t need any editing and can be developed and printed in any major city within an hour or two.

SH: I had actually meant to ask you about how the wave motion affected your exposures.

MPO: Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes. Usually, the biggest problem is trying to keep all of the objects I arrange to stay in their positions. Some days I just have to give up.

SH: Before I let you get back to your shopping, do you have any new work you can show me?

MPO: Yes, actually. This is a DVD of recent photos that I have to send to my gallerist in Basel this afternoon.

SH: Wow, so I actually get to see some of your new work even before your gallery. I am so privileged!

MPO: Just tell me if there is anything I should cut before I send it! (laughs)

SH: I like the blue background you’re using. And who is the white figurine?

MPO: You don’t know Sof’boy? He is the creation of Archer Prewitt, the musician. There is actually a Sof’boy comic. Sof’boy is from Chicago, but I bought him in Barcelona.

SH: What are some of these other things?

MPO: Let’s see, these are Moroccan eggs, this is vase I picked up in South Africa, and that is my I-pod, which is full of Russian pop music, also some Bob Dylan and Sade.

SH: These are great! Will these works be part of a show?

MPO: I am not sure yet. I actually let my gallery choose for me. My gallerist, Ehren Bjornstad, even told me that I am my own worst editor.

SH: I agree that it is sometimes best to separate the creative and editing processes, even though the editing process can also be quite creative… So where are you off to next?

MPO: After Hong Kong, I will sail westward, visiting Ha Long Bay, Danang, Phuquoc Island, Kochin, Goa and a few other places before eventually making my way to the Middle East, where I will spend a couple of weeks in Dubai.

SH: I can’t wait to see what photographs the products from these places spawn.

MPO: Though I try not to, I am already beginning to imagine. I need to stop myself!

SH: I wish you a safe and productive journey.