Докдокдок – Школа современной фотографии / Александр Иванов

Александр Иванов

Санкт-Петербург

Александр Иванов родился в Краснодаре, живет и работает в Санкт- Петербурге. Имеет образование в сфере журналистики и фотографии. Работал фотокорреспондентом в журнале «Мост». Участвовал в конкурсах театральной фотографии. Сейчас штатный фотограф социального фонда «Мост поколений», который занимается работой с ветеранами Великой Отечественной Войны. Работает с социальными темами и убежден, что фотография может нести пользу. Призер международных фотографических конкурсов.

Лидочка

Лидия Михайловна – учитель рисования, поэтесса. Николай Ефимыч – майор-инженер ракетных войск, прозаик. Они познакомились в городе Ленинграде на танцах в октябре 1957 года. Будучи слушателем «Можайки», он подошел к студентке педагогического института, хрупкой и застенчивой девушке, пригласил на вальс. Проводил до дома, взял номер телефона. На следующий день пригласил в кино. В феврале следующего года они поженились, через девять месяцев у них родилась дочь.

Пара счастливо прожила советскую эпоху, вместе они преодолели сложности перестройки, оба писали на пенсии: он юмористические опусы, она стихи. В таких сказках принято говорить: жили они долго и счастливо и умерли в один день. Они не думали о смерти, но хотели умереть в один день.

В 2018 году Лидия получила травму колена и уже не могла самостоятельно передвигаться. Два года муж ухаживал за малоподвижной женой: готовил, помогал купаться, делал с ней необходимые физические упражнения. Лидия умерла в 2020 году, и Николай остался один. Они прожили вместе 62 года.

Сейчас Николаю 87 лет, и он вынужден учиться жить без жены. Любовь приходит и уходит, следы от нее остаются. Посещая места, которые связывали его с Лидочкой, я узнавал новые истории, которые уводили меня в его воспоминания о счастливой жизни.

At first, Nikolay had had a very hard time accepting the new reality/ He had way too much spare time that he did not know what to do about. Then, he started to digitize his short stories and put them on the Internet. He follows his readers, responds to their reviews, and regularly meets new people.
Lidochka and Nikolay used to spend a lot of time writing their works. Joint creative work helped them with battling and overcoming anxious thoughts. He used to say that Lidochka was living in two dimensions. One was where the poems would come to her, and the other – where she would write them down in flesh. Now he is reading those poems to their mutual friends discovering more and more meaning in them with every next time.
Each summer, Nikolay and Lidochka went to the dacha where they spent 3 to 4 months before the first freeze. They heated the bathhouse, sunbathed, went for a swim at a local lake, walked in the forest, and picked mushrooms. In the evenings, they read their written work to each other, exchanged impressions form the day lived through together, and listened to music records. Each next day was not like the other. It was their way of rebooting before the cold winter in the city.
Nikolay is sunbathing in the garden laying down on a cot. This has to be one of his favorite summer activities. It used to be a big lush garden with multiple bright flowers and colors in it. Lidochka and he used to take care of the garden watering the plants and cleaning out the weeds. When coming back home from the dacha, they would make a bouquet that could last for weeks reminding them about summer days. Now the garden is abandoned.
Military build, always in time, looking sharp with his shoulders back – these were the manners he was taught first at the Military Academy and then on duty. Nikolay was an engineer for the strategic missile forces. During his service, he had been to several cities and countries. The life of a military servant means constantly being on the move. Lidochka had always been by his side. She was waiting for him to come home, raised their daughter, maintained the household wherever they had to go while her husband was in service.
The last dinner Lidochka ever had was a fried egg. She lost her appetite and refused to eat anything. Nikolay realized she was losing her strength. He fed her himself, piece by piece. The next morning he called an ambulance that took her to the hospital. He found her half-conscious, took her by her hand and confessed his love for her. He knew that he might not get another chance to do that.
Nikolay is in his apartment sitting on an inflatable ball. With the help of this particular ball, Lidochka and he used to do exercises that the doctor recommended to her. Up to this day, he still does those exercises on a regular basis.
This was the bathroom where Nikolay had been helping his wife take a bath for the past two years. After the trauma, Lidochka was not able to get into the bathtub by herself. To make it easier for her to overcome that obstacle, he installed a handrail. Later on, such handrails would also appear in the restroom and by the bed.
Every summer, Nicholay and his wife would ride their bicycles to the lake in the woods. There they would swim on hot summer days. These bicycles were made back in the 1980s. Now he doesn't need to keep two bikes. He is slowly taking his wife's bike apart and re-purposing the parts on his own. He uses the bike to go to the store, which is two kilometers from home.
Nikolay is watching a recording of a concert Lidochka took part in. In the mid-90s, Nikolay and Lidia joined the “Ostrovok” Club. It was a community of senior people, who organized amateur concerts and share their written work with the audience. At first, those were small-scale home concerts, but then they were given a facility at a local Palace of Culture. “Ostrovok” became an asylum for its participants where they could go to escape from the heavy though of that time. The club exists up to this day, and Nikolay takes an active part in its life.
Before any official event, Nikolay would have to get shaved. All his tools are in their own places. He has many ties in his wardrobe that his wife once gave to him. She used to tie them for him before he would leave the house. Now, Nikolay does not wear ties.
The subject of Aivazovsky's painting that Nikolay is looking at is the wreck of a ship in a storm. He compares his present life to that ship. Lidochka death has become a storm for him - worries, doubts, desires to give up the fight. He survived that storm.
Nikolay is 87 years old. His wife passed away two years ago. They had spent 62 years together. Now, he is leaning to live on his own. He maintains an active social and cultural life, visits concerts, museums, and exhibitions. The art helps him to get distracted from his loneliness. The scenery brings him back to his childhood days that he had spent in a small village in Siberia. The portraits flatter him with a possibility to see a whole other life with the eyes of the ones pictured. The photo was taken in the main hall of the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg. The last time he had been there was over 20 years ago with his late wife.

Дело техники

Предприятие «Техника» было организовано в 1945 году в городе Сарапул, Республика Удмуртия. Его уникальность заключалась в ориентации на сотрудников с разными группами инвалидности по зрению. После окончания войны остро стоял вопрос адаптации людей, получивших инвалидность в военное время. Сюда, по направлению Всесоюзного общества слепых стали отправлять на работу первых сотрудников с различной группой инвалидности. Завод, площадью в 11 тысяч кв.м стал новым местом работы для более 1000 рабочих. На производственном пике в 1970-х здесь работали в три смены, выпуская детали для одного из самых популярных радиоприемников «Космос».

Заводом было разработано и внедрено множество технических разработок, которые позволили открыть новое направление в рациональном трудовом устройстве слабовидящих или незрячих людей. У станков появлялись дополнительные детали, облегчающие сборку сложных радиодеталей. Увеличивался объем выпускаемой продукции, а процент брака сводился к нулю. Проводилась большая социальная работа по трудовой адаптации и улучшению условий жизни работников. Было построено 930 квартир, где и сейчас живут бывшие и действующие сотрудники. Спроектирован и построен дом творчества с библиотекой, база отдыха.

Сейчас мощности предприятия упали. Заказов стало меньше, объемы сократились, а завод работает на 30% своих возможностей. Это связано с банкротством крупных предприятий, которые являлись основным заказчиком выпускаемой заводом продукции. Сейчас, большая часть территории завода сдана в аренду или закрыта. Предприятие выпускает несложные комплектующие. Многие сотрудники ушли на пенсию или были сокращены. Но еще порядка 20 человек с различной группой инвалидности по зрению продолжают работу. Ежедневный труд и дружеская атмосфера в коллективе поддерживает их и за пределами завода.