Misha Maslennikov was born in 1964 in Dobroe settlement close to Moscow, USSR. Since 2013 constantly lives in the city of Odessa, Ukraine.
1981-83 — he studied at Art School #75, got the qualification of architectural designer-constructor.
2002-05 — Misha studied at theological department of Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University.
1985-92 — he worked in reproduction centre of the State Publishing House the Press (previous name Pravda) as a retoucher and an operator of electronic color splitting and color correcting machine. At the same time Misha Maslennikov got experienced in the following fields: photo reproduction, contacts, photomontage, he was busy in graphic, fonts and painting in art studious of Moscow painters Dmitry and Andrey Bisty, Vladimir Brainin.
1993-98 — he worked as an assistant of head of printing department at the design agency of the company Videoservice, became professional in control of printing process, graphic design, pre-printing photo preparation.
2001-02 — he was engaged as an art-director in the project Byzantium.ru of charity organization — The Centre of Help to Development of Orthodox art Byzantine.
He began traveling in the Russian North in 2002. The main areas are single expeditions to the places difficult of access, visiting and co-operation with cenobites of active monasteries, sketes, with keepers of ancient temples, pogosts, studying the way of life of modern hermits, anchorites, real intercourse and contacts with backwoodsmen.
Since the middle of 2005 Misha goes in for field reportage photography and begins thinking seriously about the photographic process as a way of the particular conveyance of author ideas in a missionary vein. At present Misha Maslennikov continues his work on private and public projects in documentary photography, individual and group expeditions according to a given subject, collection of materials, visual ethnography.
Photos are in museum and private collections in Russia and abroad.
Since 2006 — head and member of the Noga Creative Union.
Awards & Honors
2022 — 3rd Place of the BarTur Photo Award 2022, Faces of Humanity (Series) theme.
2022 — Shortlisted in the Master Award category of the World.Report Award | Documenting Humanity 2022.
2021 — Honorable Mention of the 2021 ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography, Social Documentary Network/SDN.
2021 — Finalist of the LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2021.
2018 — Grand Prix of the XXIV International Photo Festival Narva Autumn 2018.
2012 — Grand Prix of the All-Russian photo contest “Living Ocean and Coastal Zone” of the Press Center of the Russian exposition at the World EXPO-2012 and Science and Life magazine.
Solo exhibitions
2023 — The Don Steppe, The 4° edition Asincronie | Documentary Cinema and Photography Festival in Sardinia, Ateliers Piazza F. Sotgiu, Alghero, Italia.
2022 — The Don Steppe, The XIII edition of The Festival of Ethical Photography, Palazzo Modignani, Lodi, Italia.
2021 — The Don Steppe, 9. Foto Art Festival named after Andrzej Baturo, Gallery of Photography B&B, Bielsko-Biała, Poland.
2018 — Ordinary Photos, Art Space, Vitebsk Center of the Modern Art, Vitebsk, Belarus.
2018 — Chukotka is a land of loneliness, House of Culture Rugodiv, Narva, Estonia.
2013 — Ordinary Photos, Odessa Museum Western & Eastern Art, Odessa, Ukraine.
2013 — 3 Outskirts: Karelia, Altai, Chukotka, The First Sevastopol International Photo Festival, Sevastopol, Ukraine.
2012 — 3 Outskirts: Karelia, Altai, Chukotka, Russian Museum of Photography, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
2012 — 3 Outskirts: Karelia, Altai, Chukotka, GM Photo Gallery, Yekaterinburg.
2008 — WE, Feofania Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia.