Andrei Andreivich Romanov II (born June 4, 1985) is an up and coming photographer born in Moscow, Russia but raised in various Massachusetts Suburbs. Although his recent gallery debut featured just a handful of his photographs, it provided a glimpse into the work of a typically secluded and enigmatic artist.

Biography

Andrei Jr. was born in Moscow to Andrei Sr. and Anna Romanov. During the liberating times of Perestroika, Andrei’s parents saw an opportune time to flee the oppressive communist government, which no doubt would have suppressed Andrei’s politically charged work.

Upon immigration to New York City, New York Andrei came across his first exposure to photography in a gallery exhibition of Jon Kay at the Guggenheim. As he recalls, “I was so amazed by photography’s timeless ability to underline the natural beauty all around us.” Andrei formalized his intuitive observation into a set of principals that he began implementing in his own amateur work.

Rise to Fame

In 1994, Andrei and his family moved to Massachusetts and Andrei’s reputation as a skilled and unique photographer truly began to develop around the summer of 1996. As a freelance photographer, Andrei was able to sell his images to a number of regional newspapers such as the Acton Beacon, the Groton Herald and the prestigious Concord Journal. His big break came when in January 12th, 1999 the Boston Globe published a 2 page spread on Andrei and his upcoming gallery. The unprecedented attention the Globe article garnered Andrei seemed to overwhelm the then 13 year old artist and led him to cancel the exhibition and revoke all copy and distribution privileges he had previously granted to the newspapers which used his work. It is even rumored that Andrei stole the newspaper microfiche that documented his work from most of the local town libraries. This is main reason why Andrei’s art has become so difficult to find and can be quite valuable when genuine works do emerge.

Seclusion and Recent Reemergence

By 2000, Andrei and his art had completely disappeared from photography’s radar and it seemed that Andrei wished to keep it that way. He was no longer a staple of local galleries criticizing and complimenting his contemporaries. With the financial support from his parents and the modest precedes and commissions he earned in his early career, Andrei was able to purchase a small lakeside property in a remote location of Stow, Massachusetts where he was able to continue his work without any public scrutiny or praise in what he referred to as an “artistic vacuum”.

During his interim isolation, Andrei was adamant about avoiding public attention. He refused numerous interviews and staunchly opposed any article about him, often threatening legal action. Some speculated that the ardent artist continued work during this period under a pseudonym. He did grant Robert Siegel a brief phone-in interview on NPR’s All Things Considered in March 11, 2004[1795], but the conversation topic was limited to media censorship with no mention of Andrei’s previous, or future, photography endeavourers.

On September 14, 2005, announced that he would display his latest photographs at historic Emerson Umbrella[1796] in Concord, Massachusetts. The ambiguous announcement made no mention of the exhibit date or the size of the exhibit, but it immediately generated a local buzz about the artists return to the scene.
Finally on December 12, Andrei invited the public to his exhibition at Emerson that featured a limited display of 6 photographs. Upon receiving critically acclaim from the Concord Art Association[1797] for his gallery, Andrei revealed that in fact he had taken all 6 shots earlier that day. When taken at face value, this statement alongside his work truly demonstrates this young artists capacity and potential in the realm of photography.

Collection of Available Works

2005? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Artbyandrei1.jpg Reflections of the Past

2005? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Artbyandrei2.jpg Ball and Shaft

2005? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Artbyandrei6.jpg Covering Ashes of the Past