It probably sounded like a good idea at the time, a photo exhibition devoted to Russian football that will run just after the national team’s triumphant qualification for next year’s World Cup. “Rooting for Russia,” a selection of images by two of the country’s best sports journalists, now has an elegiac tone after Russia failed to qualify for the tournament in South Africa.
Luckily the exhibit does not just focus on the national team but also looks at fans and behind the scenes.
Andrei Golovanov and Sergei Kivrin are two of the world’s most experienced sports photographers, having covered 19 Olympic Games between them, although covering football they found, at times, more difficult than the Olympics. “During the match, photographers are not allowed to move around the pitch. We have strictly regulated places, which, no doubt, makes it harder,” Golovanov said.
For Golovanov, the most interesting shots are those of children playing the game. “It’s more fascinating to photograph children. Their emotions might be positive or negative, but they are always to the maximum,” he said.
The exhibition is marred by an annoying repetition of the emblem of the show’s international automobile sponsor, such as in photos of footballers in cars of a certain make, so that it sometimes feels as if the main idea is the company rather than the game. Perhaps it is only a reminder that the car, at least, can go to South Africa in 2010.
“Rooting for Russia” starts Sunday at Manezh Hall, 1 Manezh Square. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Mon. 698-1660.
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