“These photographs are dedicated to the Blaue Horse group. This group or movement of young people, many of whom were students in my home city at the end of the 1950s, deep in the Soviet times, loved the Beatles, danced to rock and roll, and dreamt about the West freedom. They came under great pressure from the government… four of them were convicted and went to jail… for pornography (convicting someone for madness or pornography was one of the ways used to crack down on any opposition). As one of the main proofs, the court was presented with photographs of these young people on the beach, in swimwear, striking “Western” poses.
I started with my photography about five years later; it was the time when it was forbidden to shoot many – or almost all – thing, but no one was killed for it already…”
Boris Mikhailov
