Галерея 13/20

  Apple  

“FotoTOP. Apple”: Opening of Gallery 13/20

We are launching the activities of gallery 13/20 with the FotoTOP: “Apple” project. FotoTOP is an initiative that brings together artists working with photography and photographers whose works fall into the category of art photography.

About FotoTOP

• Annual FotoTOP festivals have been held for several years.
• Since 2025, the project has become a public association led by its founder, Oleg Arnautov.
• FotoTOP organises an annual festival in collaboration with the Russian Museum of Photography in Nizhny Novgorod, as well as a number of exhibitions and programmes in other cities and at photography festivals.

Recent Activities

• In June 2025, several works from the project were showcased at the FotoKrok festival in Vitebsk, sparking great interest among the photography communities in Belarus and Russia.
• In mid‑July, 14 photographers participated in the “Abstract = Real” exhibition at the gallery on Trubnaya in Moscow.

The “Apple” Project in Moscow

In Moscow, the “Apple” project is presented in the photographers’ original prints, in an expanded format. “FotoTOP. Apple” is the first in a planned series of projects where invited masters and selected authors (chosen through a competition) present their works on a theme proposed by the curator.

Why “Apple”?

The theme of the apple was chosen because, for those rooted in European culture, the biblical story of the Fall is a starting point — the beginning of humanity’s long journey, expelled from an ideal world into reality, where we earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. The apple symbolises knowledge, the new, and that which expands the boundaries of our understanding of the world.

The Artists and Their Works

Esteemed photographers and talented, less‑known authors have created a remarkable series of metaphorical and evocative works. Their photographs demonstrate the vast creative possibilities of photography — its capacity to invent, to conceive new approaches, and to express ideas through plasticity and the technical capabilities of the medium (various shooting and printing techniques).

Katya Kiryanova and Natalia Rachkova present works using alternative techniques. As former students of Mikhail Kalamkarov (in different years), they now teach themselves, upholding the high standards of the “old style” while developing it further.

Mikhail Kalamkarov takes great care in following the progress of all his former students who submitted works to the project through the competition. Many were selected, along with graduates from other photography schools led by Vadim Gushchin and Vasily Prudnikov. Each of these masters also contributed a work:

• Vadim Gushchin presented his “Apple” in a recognisable setting — a table and background exploding with colour.
• Vasily Prudnikov created an intriguing composition where a black‑and‑white image on a phone screen (a film still) plays a central role, driving the narrative through intrigue.

Other notable works include:

• Abramov Jr.: his apple is a creative construction.
• Valery Samarin: a colourful narrative with an object, offering a unique new twist in the “shadow painter’s” usual oeuvre.
• Ivan Filimonov: a work featuring a black apple, where the texture of a wooden hut resonates with the apple’s form.
• Mikhail Stenin: Eve’s apple appears on the track of a space probe, placing the biblical reference in a new context.

International Contributions

Among the competition entries, several will be featured in the exhibition, including a work by Borisneva‑Labell from France: a girl embraces an apple shaped like a globe/planet.

Each piece deserves its own story, which we will share after the opening — once we are reinspired by what we have seen.

Curator of the “Apple” project: Oleg Arnautov