Shooting for Rolling Stone

Following footsteps of Annie Leibovitz, I was honoured to photograph for the iconic Rolling Stone magazine, that is legendary for covering world famous musicians, actors and artists.

My subject was Alexander Petrov, a young but already very well known Russian actor.

What a personality! I was captivated by Alexander's mannerisms. Amazed and amused, i witnessed him equally easily portraying a protective brother and a violent leader of a gangster's clique.

We have shot on a cloudy day in an abandoned Russian factory in the outskirts of Moscow. Alexander was arriving straight from the airport. These days, he is constantly on a move, working on few projects at the same time. Remembering actor's manager's warning that Alexander can only dedicated an hour of his time to the shoot I was bit anxious.

For that day I have created a photo story 'Drugs Sex and Rock-n-Roll'. Alexander's character, a rebellious rock star supposed to drink champaign from the bottle, be mischievous and interact with a group of other young actors , that had been also dressed and groomed in the style of the 80s.

Alexander immediately made a creative suggestion. "Bring me a guitar', he said. Guitar was immediately delivered and indulgently broken in pieces. We have managed to finish the shoot in under an hour but Im very happy with the results: we have captured unique moments thanks to Alexander's acting talent and amazing Russian crew of set design, make up and styling.

I believe that the main picture, selected by Rolling stone magazine, represents the essence of the Rock Star era: a dreamer carelessly rests on the chips of a traditional society.