Quote: "The power of our Muse lies in her meaninglessness. Even the style can turn one into a slave if one does not run away from it, and then one is doomed to repeat oneself. The only thing that counts is curiosity. For me personally, this is what creativity is about. It will express itself less in the fear of doing the same thing over again than in the desire not to go where one has already been."

Gueorgui Pinkhassov joined Magnum Photos in 1986 and became a full Member in 1994.

Gueorgui Pinkhassov
French/Russian, b. Moscow 1952

Gueorgui Pinkhassov's interest in photography began while he was still at school. After studying cinematography at the VGIK (the Moscow Institute of Cinematography), he went on to work at the Mosfilm studio as a cameraman, then as a set photographer.

In 1978 Pinkhassov joined the Moscow Union of Graphic Arts and was awarded independent artist status. His work was noticed by the prominent Russian film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky, who invited Pinkhassov to work on the set of his film Stalker (1979). In the same year some of his images were included in a group exhibition of Soviet photographers held in Paris, where they attracted attention.

Pinkhassov moved permanently to Paris in 1985. He worked for the international press, particularly for Geo, Grand Reportage and the New York Times Magazine, but covering events did not interest him. As his first book, Sightwalk, proves, Gueorgui Pinkhassov prefers to explore individual details, through reflections or particular kinds of light, often approaching abstraction. He has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1994.