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PROOF! is a free publication distributed twice a year by Johnston Printing in an effort to bring to light the contributions of area artists. To receive additional copies by mail, to sign up a friend, or to share a story that you’d like to see in PROOF!, visit johnstonprinting.com. Founded in Spokane in 1947, Johnston Printing is a family-owned, full-service print shop offering both offset and digital printing, along with binding and mailing services, for every printing need.
Born in Odessa in 1932, Leonid Bergoltsev is one of the finest Russian photographers of the Soviet era, a man whose pictures have appeared in more than 300 exhibits and gallery shows around the world; who has won 40 prizes for his work; and who has had six one-man exhibitions in Russia and seven abroad. From 1958-72, he was a staff photographer for Soviet Union, the USSR’s premier illustrated magazine, which was published in 19 languages. Bergoltsev’s work is something of a paradox: unposed, his photos represent moments of real life, natural and alive with movement. They are the result of reaction rather than studied thought. Yet each, for all its ordinariness, has a surprisingly aesthetic quality – as much photo-artistry as photojournalism. Bergoltsev moved to Spokane from Moscow in 1996.
Photograph by Chad Ramsey