photojournalist Farid Khayrulin :: Baku photo, Azerbaijan photo, foto, photogallery, oil photo

...They were looking at me and I was looking back at them. Silent, motionless, afraid to disturb the flow of energy emanating from the photographs.

No event, no ceremony in the country takes place without his participation. Virtually everyone knows him. His photographs, reprinted in millions of copies, have spread across the whole world – you can come across them on the covers of popular magazines, on the pages of newspapers, at private exhibitions hosted in Germany, Israel, Russia and the USA. His diverse works form the mosaics of our times. And at the core of it all lies the uncanny gift of the artist - a photojournalist, a winner of the Khumaj, Golden Argus and G. Zardabi awards - Farid KKhayrulin. Tomorrow Farid KKhayrulin turns 60.

— I know that even in the most stagnant periods your photographs were highly sought after not only in the USSR but also abroad – in France, in England, in Germany…

— Yes, we would often receive commissions from TASS. And on specific subjects, too.

— Working is not easy when the subject is too specific. Do restrictions hinder you in your work?

— Of course. The motto of journalism in that period was "pass the desirable for reality”. Journalists were always bound to a higher purpose: to transform reality in accordance with ideological demands. We abided by those rules. But I think a professional is a person who can do any assignment.

— Seems too easy. Have you had times when it was hard to work?

— I have. And not exactly hard – it was humanly difficult. It was difficult to take photos of refugees, half-frozen children, people crushed by APCs in Karabakh. Right after the Soviet troops entered Baku on January 20, at 8 AM, two of my colleagues and I took a drive about the city... We were driving up to an intersection near the Salyan barracks. Corpses, the asphalt covered in blood... I cannot even understand how I managed to take photos of that nightmare. But I did it. And a friend of mine told me: «Go up to that KAMAZ». I saw soldiers around the perimeter, and a KAMAZ, about ten meters away. Under the wheels — the crushed body of a young man, and a boy, his brother, gone in hysterics.

— How come the soldiers did not break the camera?

— The camera... The only reason I myself got out of there alive was Dima Kalinin, a colleague of mine. As I was taking photos, he was talking to an officer, who, seeing me with a camera, took his assault rifle and started aiming. Dima saved my life: «What do you think you are doing? He's a TASS reporter!». We sent a few photographs to Moscow and received only accusations of falsification. We terminated our partnership with TASS and started sending the photos to foreign agencies. Free of charge - the only important thing was to let the world know the truth about the 20th of January.

— Many of them are being printed even today, without mentioning the photographer. Including the one that spread all over the world press: the funeral of the Black January victims. Does that trouble you?

— On the contrary. I take pride in that. As for the authorship, this photograph, like many others taken in that period, has been shown more than once at different exhibitions – already signed. These photographs are very important to me. Too many things are linked with them. There were dramatic twists and turns – they are all part of our recent history. I hope I will write it all down someday.