Photographer Anna Goffman: “It’s terrible that I say such things about my favorite city”

Anna formed this impression of St. Petersburg a year and a half after her arrival in Moscow, where her business received a long-awaited boost. Things went uphill, but the difference during the move affected not only business - the outlook on people and life in general also changed. Gone are the unnecessary people, useless conversations, annoying friends, and entertainment. Is it worth moving from St. Petersburg, drowning in operas and ballets, to business Moscow - this is what we’re talking about

Anna Goffman- Moscow photographer from St. Petersburg, working in her own genre of “theater photography”; collaborated with Sobaka.ru, Pirosmani, Asya Malbershtein, won a prize in 2015 international competition IPA photos. Solo exhibitions: Laurent Godard in Paris, 2010, FotoLoft in Moscow and at Carnegie Hall in New York, Arsenale di Venezia in Venice, 2015, and others.

Photo: From personal archive 1

“ZagraNitsa”: How can you even move from St. Petersburg to Moscow: you can’t go back?

Anna Goffman: You can leave if you really want to work seriously. If you decide to completely rebuild your life and get away from idleness. St. Petersburg is wonderful for poets and dreamers. If you want to build a business, naturally, you need to move to Moscow. Yes, there are lazy and irresponsible people here too, and you can’t live without it, but there are much more opportunities. And Moscow itself is aimed at making quick decisions, unlike St. Petersburg. It doesn’t pull me back, not at all. I think it will come, but later, when you want some respite. Not yet.

“ZagraNitsa”: How can this be expressed: there are simply fewer professionals here, personnel as such per capita, or is there really just a different air here?

A.G.: The mentality in St. Petersburg is simply different. There are both professionals and personnel... But the life position of a St. Petersburg resident is different. It's completely normal for them to say, “Oh, we can do that next time, or we can do that later...”. “Later” won’t work in Moscow. Procrastination is in full swing in St. Petersburg. And capable and talented people, constantly running into the indecisiveness and laziness of others, become despondent. It's a vicious circle. If you want to achieve something, you must have like-minded people around you. As active and determined as you are. Otherwise everything. You'll get stuck in the swamp of strangers' "I'll think about your proposal in a couple of months"... and go drink at a bar. You will swear, try to make decisions, drink, say that you will break the system... and nothing. Nothing will happen in a month or a year. Harsh, of course, but true. Well, this is my story, maybe it’s different for others.

Photo: From personal archive 3

"Zagranitsa": What is the nature of these reasons? In the soporific weather, architecture, scattering of theaters, museums and, in general, a generous cultural and historical trail? But doesn't this exist in Moscow? Or maybe the question is simply a matter of motivation: do they pay little? If they gave me that kind of money, everything would work. No money in St. Petersburg? No investment?

A.G.: In Moscow they don’t look at beauty and, really, they don’t have time. There is no money in St. Petersburg, that's true. There are tortured people and endless aggression. And the barter system. Most people believe that everything should be done for them for free, supposedly for PR. This is darkness. It's a vicious circle, again. As a result, you lose self-respect, self-esteem and feel worthless. And no amount of operas and ballets will get you out of this situation. It's terrible that I say such things about my favorite city.

Moscow. Photo: From personal archive
Photo: From personal archive 4

"ZagraNitsa": It would be terrible if you were lying.

A.G.: Moscow also has all this, the barter system, and disrespect for other people’s work, but Moscow has the strength to fight it. And if you fight, they begin to reckon with you. Yes, you become aggressive, tough. But you do your job, it's priceless.

“ZagraNitsa”: It turns out that we can talk about changes in your work and creativity in general in St. Petersburg and in Moscow?

Anna Goffman is an amazing person. Beautiful, graceful, talented and multifaceted. Artist, designer, singer and founder of the musical groups Romancero Sefardi and Mazal Bueno Orquesta.

In her own words, everything that she managed to try in different creative fields would be enough for several women.

On the eve of the first autumn concert, we talked about the various facets of Anna’s talent, her passion for the mysterious Sephardic music and musical projects.

Anna Rzhevina: Anna, you are a musician, artist, designer, dancer. Moreover, she is a mother of two children. How do you manage to combine so much?

Anna Goffman: I always followed my own internal impulses and desires to do something. First I learned to draw, then I learned to dance, then to sing, everything went gradually. When I decided that in the end, I still wanted to pursue many directions, I realized that I had to learn to either combine them or choose something. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine that I quit singing and was sitting at home, doing only applied arts, or vice versa. Although, dancing still suffered; I haven’t been doing it for a long time. Now I strive to devote the same amount of time to the things that I definitely cannot live without. For example, I’m preparing for a concert, but at the same time I’m creating something with my hands (smiles).

A.R.:Did you dream of being an artist as a child?

A.G.: I wanted to be an artist. I went to the children's theater studio for quite a long time. I started drawing only at the age of 16. And it turned out that this became one of my professions. I entered the Moscow College of Arts and Crafts. I studied for a year, received a diploma with honors, they issue it for each year of study. Then, in the late 90s, the first clubs began to open in Moscow, the first interesting people in this area, and I was lucky enough to work with Andrey Bartenev for a couple of years. We worked in the workshop, he created his collections, and we technically executed them. And then, since I also dreamed of becoming a model, and with my height of 163 cm it was not possible for me (smiles), it turned out that I satisfied this need by working on the catwalk. At the same time, I met Andrei Meshkov, he made a collection of interesting hats, and we also walked on the catwalk in them. It was a busy, good time.

A.R.: Now you are realizing yourself as a jewelry designer. How did you come up with the idea of ​​this particular form of interaction with ceramics?

A.G.: I started with very large forms - I painted ceilings, created huge plaster panels, ceramic panels, but then I realized that I was, in fact, a miniaturist. And, continuing to study ceramics, she came to jewelry. Although no one perceives clay as such, I turned ceramics into a jewelry material for myself, which became an expensive work. Now I’m just starting to develop this topic and want to make a collection. I have found my own equipment that I can use with pleasure.

AR: Then, as I know, you studied Kathak dance at the Indian Embassy in Moscow and received a scholarship for further studies in India. Was it interesting to study directly in the environment where this dance originated?

A.G.: Indian dance and a trip to India are such a huge part of my life! This is a gigantic experience. The happiest and worst moments of my life happened there. When I went there, receiving a scholarship in 1999, India was not at all what India is now, especially for Russians. Of the Russians there were only “shuttle traders” who went for goods, and “crazy” students like me who studied dance and were complete fanatics. It was shock therapy, the like of which I had never experienced anything else in my life. I arrived there and didn’t know anyone. I had to completely organize my life from scratch.

A.R.: But was it interesting?

A.G.: Interesting is not the right word. This is shock, suffering, and incredible joy. You're tempting fate, really. Because sometimes there is nothing to rely on except fate. You need to find where to live, figure out how to get to school, what to eat and what not to eat. Understand each person - is he deceiving you, or is he your friend. For me it was a test of strength. And at the same time, I ended up in school with the best choreographer in India in the style that I studied. It was Pandit Birju Maharaj. The star, the guru, the person who is worshiped. If we talk about training, it was exciting, amazing, and terribly humiliating. This is the kind of ego training that I couldn’t stand in the end. After 2.5 years I said: “That’s it, I can’t do it anymore.” But at the same time, I made friends there whom I still remember with the brightest feelings. We continue to maintain relations. After training, we went there for a very long time - Gena had musical projects (Gennady Lavrentiev is her husband, a multi-instrumentalist musician), I also sometimes performed.

A.R.: Did you start singing in childhood or at a conscious age?

A.G.: Yes, since childhood I sang in the school choir, but I started studying seriously much later, with M.A. Kikina, the mother of the singer Mila Kikina. I started with classical vocals, studied for three years, and then I realized that I wanted to sing on stage, and this style did not suit me at all. I started looking for ways to develop, first on my own, then I managed to take flamenco vocal master classes, then I attended a seminar in Crete on Turkish classical vocals. All this came in handy, because our group’s repertoire is very diverse. I like everything (laughs), and I want everything. I still continue to study, search and develop.

AR: You are the initiator and vocalist of the ROMANCERO SEFARDÍ project, performing the music of Spanish Sephardic Jews. Tell us about the idea behind the creation and the music?

A.G.: I have always been close to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean music, but at the same time I wanted, in principle, some kind of Jewish repertoire for myself, and the culture of klezmer and Yiddish culture never attracted me. And the Sephardim turned out to be the quintessence of what I needed. A beautiful language, Ladino, is a medieval Jewish-Spanish language, with a very beautiful pronunciation, close to Portuguese. After the expulsion, the Sephardim retained this language, medieval ballads, and their own culture, but at the same time, music, as musicologists say, does not belong to the people, it belongs to the region. Lyrics tend to last longer than music. And they filled the local music of the region where they found themselves with these texts. It turned out that Turkish Sephardim play Turkish music, Moroccans play Moroccan music, Balkans play Balkan music, etc. The Sephardic repertoire is very different from region to region, so all this heritage can be collected like a cultural mosaic. I was very attracted to this, and I did it.

A.R.: In 2013 you recorded your debut album. How is it, and in general, your music received in Russia and abroad?

A.G.: We received a grant from the New York UJA Federation foundation and recorded an album. We have accumulated a lot beautiful material, in our own arrangements, which we considered worthy of being designated as part of this culture. People not only in Russia, but also in Latin America and Spain began to learn about us and find us on the Internet, and they gave us high praise. I was found by an Argentinean who has his own radio “Folclorica” in Buenos Aires. He really liked our disc and made a wonderful program about us, which was very nice. Then our album was sent to the Spanish radio “Mundofonías”, which broadcasts throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and it became the favorite of March. Then we were even nominated for album of the year.

AR: Anna, your second project MAZAL BUENO ORQUESTA mostly involves musicians from the first project. How is it different from ROMANCERO SEFARDI?

A.G.: These are, in general, the same musicians. Our composition periodically changed and expanded, but some core always remained the same. We haven't collaborated with the wonderful drummer, Mario Caldararu, for two years or more, but on September 6th we are happy to play with him again. Our sound remains unchanged, it is recognizable. I can’t say that this is a radically different team. The Mazal Bueno Orquesta project became a completely logical “continuation” of the ideas of my first project because Sephardic music covers a huge region and is very different. For example, if I sing a Sephardic song, which is a Greek rebetiko song translated into Ladino, it was natural for me to sing the actual Greek rebetiko as it sounds in Greece. Or if it was a Sephardic song from Turkey, then it is completely natural to sing a real Turkish song. Rather, the ethnic composition has expanded, and the songs, in general, are still from the same region. I sometimes try to "jump" somewhere into Latin America or India, but to a lesser extent. And I also wanted to supplement our repertoire with songs of my own composition, which began to appear in small quantities. The Sephardic project was very limited in subject matter; I felt a bit cramped in it, and was tired of maintaining a rigid style. Therefore, we went more into the “world music” genre to expand the boundaries of our creativity.

A.R.: Your team includes amazing masters, talented multi-instrumentalists. How is it working with a male team?

A.G.: Great. It's a pleasure to work with them. I am very grateful to them for the fact that they respond every time, come to rehearse, and play our almost free concerts. I don't know why they do this...they probably like to play with me too (laughs). As musicians, they are interested in this. The music is interesting and complex. For Gennady, for example, initially everything was not so easy. Firstly, he is a composer, he loves to play his music, and secondly, he is not a song musician, but more of an instrumentalist. But gradually I felt this music and got involved. Oleg Maryakhin and Dmitry Ignatov are absolutely brilliant musicians. Everyone plays a variety of instruments. Again, Mario Caldararu - everyone knows him too, with whom he played and where he participated. Yiannis Kofopoulos is the new vocalist of our project.

AR: By the way, tell us about your collaboration with the Greek singer and percussionist Yiannis Kofopoulos.

A.G.: Yiannis is an amazing singer. For us, this meeting is very significant and valuable, because he is the bearer of exactly the culture that we are broadcasting. We think we understand it well, but we are only secondary in this. It is a fact. And the appearance of Yannis gave a kind of second wind to the project. And the songs that we perform with him, I might never have found without him, but they are very beautiful.

AR: All that remains is to hear them live. When and where will the next concert take place?

Interviewed Anna Rzhevina
Photo by Alexander Ov-Lebedev

Performers:

Anna Goffman: vocals, percussion
Gennady Lavrentiev: oud, guitar, percussion
Kirill Parenchuk: soprano saxophone, percussion
Kirill Rossolimo - percussion
Maria Ride - percussion, dance

Exactly a year ago, a musical group began performing, giving a concert in the Indian club “Hukkah”, and recently Anna Hoffman’s group can be heard more and more often in Moscow. They were not the first to start performing songs of Sephardim (Spanish Jews), but, unlike many, they do not strive to “modernize” ancient melodies. The group members collect Sephardic songs heard in the Middle Ages and restore the original traditions, slightly adapting them for today's listeners.

Anna Hoffman sings not just Sephardic songs, the main genre is romance, in the sense in which it originally appeared - a poetic story turning into a ballad. In general, the term “romance” itself arose in the Spanish Middle Ages and originally denoted a secular song in Spanish (“Roman”, and not in Latin, accepted in church chants). The romances performed by the group sound in the language in which they were created - in Ladino, the Jewish-Spanish language of the Sephardim. The lyrics are naive and simple-minded, like any ballads of those times. They sing about tears, which, of course, look like pearls, about a loved one who left, and about love, which is happiness and misfortune.

Soon the creative space “KvARTira” will host Anya Goffman’s personal exhibition with the intriguing title “Undress Katya for me.” In anticipation of this event, Falovers spoke with the fashion photographer about creativity, inspiration and uncompromising beauty in the frame.

Photographer Anna Goffman's fashion journey began just a few years ago. However, along the way, a lot of interesting things happened to Anna: collaboration with the Spanish magazines Verano and Magazine Fuera de Serie, work with St. Petersburg designers Olga Malyarova, Vladislav Aksenov, Natalya Mekler, Irina Tantsurina and participation in the Biennale of Russian Photography Paris’20-09.

Anna's creativity amazes with its extreme emotionality. The photographer does not follow the established stereotypes of fashion photography - each frame refers to a long-forgotten (in this type of creativity) theatricality, where there is poetry and painting, expression and sensuality, where every movement of the model is choreographed and carefully thought out, where there is nothing vague and random...

Anya, why such a strange name for the exhibition?

This phrase was once said by an acquaintance of mine who was present at an advertising shoot. There was no erotic overtones in it. But at the moment when he said it, I realized that the very process of actions and episodes called “Undress Katya for me” could well serve as the plot of my personal exhibition.

And what will it be about?

I plan to bring some creative conclusion to the exhibition. The photographs presented there are portraits of people close to me. In essence, this will be an exhibition about friends and for friends. To tell the truth, I myself really want to look at my own work after a while and in a large format.(Smiles).

What happened before the exhibition?

The beginning of a creative journey. It took me a long time to see him, but as soon as I picked up the camera, I immediately found myself and my dream came true.

There is always a theatricality to your photographs. Moreover, it is established as an unconditional value of your worldview. With such a perception of life, is it difficult to find customers?

I’ll say more: it’s not easy for me to live with this. It would be much easier if I just photographed beautiful models against a beautiful background. But I can only get complete creative satisfaction from complex theatrical shooting.

It is difficult to find like-minded customers - in pursuit of commercialization, people strive to simplify the language of photography. However, at the same time, many people love all these “thread-like clouds at a decorative sunset.”

And how, in this case, to maintain a balance between the artistic value of the photo and its commercial component?

I really believe that fashion photography needs theater, that theatrical photography will sell the thing. The emasculated photographs have become boring. And the industry needs something that will stop the consumer’s gaze for a long time. In the end, there is always a place for a simple look book, shot according to the classical canons of advertising photography. But should photographs be faceless pictures? - that’s the question.

Well, what about a compromise?

I am ready to make some concessions to the customer, but I am not ready to be dishonest towards myself.

So, after all, painting and Shakespearean dramas are in the frame?

What is your inspiration?

It has no form, no quality... I can be inspired by absolutely anything: movements, sounds. Yes, music plunges me into some kind of meditative state, from which I emerge with a ready-made idea.

And what happens to you at that moment when you catch inspiration by the tail?

I, like Tarantino’s Colonel Hans Landa, say directly: “bingo!”(Laughs).

How much time passes between the ripening of an idea and its implementation?

ABOUT! I had a case when a year passed. I agree to wait if necessary. Naturally, when I come up with something, I immediately want to implement it, even if not the next day, but within a week. After all, I’m not the only one who needs to prepare. The hero of the shooting must also feel the idea, experience important moments, feel an internal click, after which he will tell me: “I’m ready, shoot.”

By the way, I was always wondering what is the correct way to say: photo session or photography?

Shooting. This is a shoot for me. By no means a photo shoot - I mean in this concept a short fragment of time when you simply photograph a model in various poses. For me, there is always a serious and meaningful process going on, which requires full dedication from me and all its participants.

How do you get people to complete their tasks? After all, as I understand, you often work with unprofessional models.

At first it seemed to me that I was doing some terrible things: “getting into” a person, torturing him, manipulating him. But over time, I began to notice that people were imbued with the mood of the shooting without my pressure on their consciousness. What happens is that at some point they become fully involved in the plan and release the emotions I need.

How long does your filming last?

From three to fifteen hours.

Until fifteen?

Yes. In this regard, I absolutely agree with Diane Arbus. She said that she did not believe the photographer who said that he could make a portrait in half an hour. But emotionally, for me personally, it makes no difference how long I shoot: three hours, five, twelve... After shooting, the entire energy reserve disappears.

And how do you replenish your resources in this case?

I sleep and dream.(Smiles).

Anya, how do you feel about criticism?

If they say outright nasty things to me, I do not react in any way, but I am ready for constructive criticism from authoritative people.

In this case, whose opinion is authoritative for you?

I will be happy to hear the assessment from my loved ones, and my dad’s opinion is especially significant for me, from the teachers of the Academy of Arts, from best friend– curator of the Yekaterinburg Museum modern photography. Their words always contain validity, constructiveness and, most importantly, meaning.

Are you part of the local photography scene?

No. It’s probably not a good thing to say now, but I don’t need these people.

What about exchange?

Knowledge, moods, emotions, energies?

If I need technical knowledge, I will draw them from the books of classical photographers: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton. If I suddenly need innovations, I will open last number Italian Vogue.

Do you have, let's say,must-have a fashion photographer: work there, shoot for something?

It seems to me that a must-have for any fashion photographer is Vogue magazine.

What are your plans for the future?

Film and travel.

What three words would you use to describe photographer Anna Goffman?

Which good question! Let me think... A fanatical little fellow, savoring life with small sips of beauty. It seems I couldn’t fit it into three words.

You can get acquainted with Anna's work here: vk.com/annagofman

ATTENTION!
Due to the singer's health condition, the concert is postponed to January 30.
Previously purchased tickets are valid. It also starts at 20:00.
Thanks for understanding!
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January 20 (Monday) at 20:00 performs at the book club-store “Vita Nova - Hyperion” Anna Goffman with the program "Songs of the Mediterranean". Entrance 400 rub.

Anna Goffman is a musician, designer, dancer, initiator and participant in the ROMANCERO SEFARDI and MAZAL BUENO ORQUESTA projects, performing the music of Spanish Sephardic Jews, as well as original compositions. Carefully selected musical material and lyrics of ancient songs fascinate with their beauty to this day.
The band members strive to preserve the original flavor and ancient traditions, introducing their unique sound and arrangements. The songs performed by the group are sounded in the language in which they were created - Ladino, Jewish-Spanish.
By incorporating many cultures and weaving them into a single musical canvas, the musicians tell their fabulous story of the music of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and their own melodies. Here the boundaries between original and traditional music are blurred...

At the age of 8, Anna Goffman began studying at the Zerkalo theater studio, then entered the Institute of Cultural History and the Moscow College of Artistic Crafts.
Member of the Moscow Designers Union.
In 1996, she began studying Indian classical dance Kathak at the Indian Embassy in Moscow and received a scholarship for further studies in India with the famous dancer and choreographer Birju Maharaj. After three years of study in India, she participated in numerous dance productions, both in India and in Russia, and collaborated with the Nritya Sabha Theater.
She studied different styles of vocals, such as classical vocals at the private school of Marina Kikina (Moscow), flamenco vocals at the masterclasses of Jesule de Utrera (Spain), masterclasses in Turkish classical vocals by Ahmet Erdogdular (Turkey).
Participated in the play “Doors Wide Open” staged by choreographer Natalya Shirokova and performed by dancers of the Bolshoi Theater (Moscow),
Joint projects with flamenco group La Fragua.
She performed with her ensemble both in Russia and abroad.
Laureate of the Golden Chanukiah Award 2007 (World Congress of Russian-Speaking Jewry),
Participation in the Jewish cultural and educational project “Eshkol” 20072009
Festival “Empty Hills” 2007, 2008.
Contemporary Dance Festival, Volgograd, 2008
“Sacred Arts Festival” Delhi, India February 2009
Sixth Eurasian Teleforum, Great Hall of the House of Cinema, Moscow, December 2009.
Action “The peoples of the world write the Bible”, Jewish Cultural Center, Moscow, February 2010
Flamenco Festival “Viva Espan~a”, RAMT, May 2010, Moscow.
Balkan Music Festival, Moscow, 20111216
3rd International Ethnic Festival “Krutushka”, Tatarstan, 2011
Festival of Jewish Ethnic Music, Jewish Cultural Center, Moscow 2011
Festival "Wild Mint" 2012
Festival "Ethnoplanet" Moscow 2012
Festival "Ethno Night" Perm 2012
Festival “Jewish Maqam” (Eshkolot) Moscow 2012
International Jewish Music Festival Amsterdam 2012
Drum festival "Drum theatre" Perm 2013
Festival "Krutushka" r. Tatarstan 2013

In 2013, the ROMANCERO SEFARDI team released their debut album “Juego de Siempre” on the Sketis Music Russia label.

“...she resembles the Old Testament heroines. Her trio numbers are small performances, passionate and lyrical...”
Marianna Belenkaya RIA Novosti

“Journalists write about Anna Hoffman: “Anna looked as if she had stepped out of El Greco’s paintings.” This is completely, absolutely, offensively wrong! Because it makes a much stronger impression. Unfortunately, no photos can convey this...”
Linor Goralik

“...A. Hoffmann does not seek to modernize the melodies of ancient centuries, but tries to convey the sound that was when these songs were performed for the first time.”
"Jewish News Agency"