Alexander Gronsky

Alexander Gronsky (Александр Гронский, born 1980) is a Russian landscape photographer. His photographs of the Russian landscape have been shown in solo exhibitions, received awards, and were published in the book Pastoral. He is based in Riga, Latvia. In 1998, aged 18, he left Estonia. Between 1999 and 2008 he worked as a press photographer for Russian and international media, covering Russia and the former USSR. He joined the Photographer.ru agency in 2003 and in 2006 moved to Russia. He works commercially for advertising agencies, corporations and humanitarian organisations.

Since 2008 Gronsky has been oriented more on personal projects Pastoral (2008-2012), explores the suburbs between Moscow and the countryside that surrounds it, evoking man's encounter with nature – picnickers eat beside heavy industry, sunbathers lie next to construction sites, and people stroll past piles of urban detritus; and Norilsk (2013).

Gronsky's book Pastoral was published in 2013. As Mikhail Iampolski, professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, writes in the introduction, "The title of the cycle is ironic. A pastoral always depicts a rural idyll, in contrast to the life of city dwellers, to whom it is addressed. In Gronsky’s cycle, the cardinal difference between the rural, the natural and the urban is lifted. This particular pastoral is not about a contrast, but about an indefinite transition." This portability meant he did not look like a photographer, and gave him greater agility whilst composing to react to peoples' movements. Polka Galerie, Paris, 2012. 2012: Pastoral, Light Work, Syracuse, NY; The Wapping Project, London, 14 April – 12 June 2015.

Exhibitions with others 2009: Minus Ideology, Art+Art Gallery, Moscow. 2009: InsideOutside, FotoWeekDC Festival, Washington, DC. 2010: Eastside Story, Polka Gallery, Paris. 2011: SI Fest Photography Festival, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy. 2011: Territories of Desire, Backlight Photo Festival, Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland. 2011: Crossroads: Contemporary Russian Photography, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney.

Awards 2003: Participant, World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, Amsterdam. 2004: Highly commended, Ian Parry Scholarship, UK. 2008: Finalist, Kandinsky Prize, Moscow. 2009: 1st prize, Linhof Young Photographer Award 09. 2009: Winner, 2009 Aperture Portfolio Prize, Aperture Foundation, for The Edge. 2009: Top 50, Critical Mass, Photo Lucida. 2010: Grand Prix, Silver Camera, Moscow House of Photography, Moscow. 2010: Winner, Foam Paul Huf Award, Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, for The Edge. 2011: Winner, Levallois – Epson 2011 Photography Prize, for Mountains and Waters. €10000 grant and exhibition in the Photo Levallois festival. 2012: Pastoral, 3rd place, Daily Life, Stories, World Press Photo Awards 2012.